Leaving
by RBnC
Summary: Dean is at the Park with his mother one day when he meets Castiel Novak. Alternate Universe AU. Eventual Destiel. Other's as well. Full of slash.
1. The Fire

**Leaving**

Dean Winchester is very much a momma's boy. He tells his mother everything; from how he's feeling to what his favorite things are. She knows him more than anyone on the planet, because Dean loves his mother far too much to explain with words. And she loves him. Mary Winchester loves both of her sons equally, though Dean will protest that his mother loves him more because he came first.

Dean finds himself and his mother at the park one very sunny afternoon. Today has lovely weather; bright and sunny with no clouds but not too hot. Dean runs around the park three blocks down from his house while Mary holds his baby brother close. His dad is away at work, as always, and won't be home for a few weeks, so he's not here with them.

Dean isn't expecting another couple to arrive at the park with their own child, so he runs over to his mother. The couple walks over to Mary, Dean, and Sam, all smiles and Dean gets really jealous that his mom smiles back. They introduce themselves as Lucy and Michael, and their-who is hiding behind his mother at this point- sons name is Castiel. Mary smiles and introduces their small family. Castiel honestly does not look like he wants to be here; like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

Dean thinks he'd like that too, until Castiel looks up at his with a scared look in his big blue eyes. Dean has the urge to make him smile; crack a joke or tickle him or play tag, it doesn't matter. Dean just wants to see him smile. So he sticks out his hand and says it's nice to meet him. Lucy and Mary coo over how well-mannered he's being, but Michael just looks wary, like he doesn't want Dean near his son. Then Castiel steps out from behind his mother's leg and shakily takes his hand. Dean smiles brightly and asks Castiel if he wants to make sandcastles. Castiel looks up at his mother, as if asking for permission. Giving an encouraging push, Lucy told him to go have fun; that was the point of a park.

And they do have fun. They have armloads of fun. They have fun until it's getting to around six p.m. and they need to go home before it gets dark. Dean begs his mother to let them stay because he's never had this much fun with someone outside his family. Mary just tells Dean that Castiel has to go home too, so it's not up to her. Dean then asks his mom if they can come back tomorrow or the next day, he just wants to play with Cas again. Lucy gushes as Dean uses the nickname for Castiel and Cas blushes like a cherry tomato. Lucy and Mary agree to come back tomorrow but only if the boys agree to behave and do their chores.

Dean is agreeing before their parents can even finish the requirements, Castiel agreeing after hearing them out. Dean is eager to get home, do his chores, and is a relative ball of energy buzzing around the house being as helpful as possible, which was only about half of the time. The other half he was setting his mother back about an hour. Dean wondered what he'd do with Castiel tomorrow. He spends half an hour in bed thinking about before he drifted off.

True to their word, Lucy and Castiel showed up the next day. Mary, Sam and Dean had been there for nearly half an hour before the Novak's had showed, but Dean's sour mood instantly cleared the minute he saw Castiel running across the park to meet him. Dean and Cas hug before running off-'Not too far boys!' Their mothers warn- to play and do their own thing. Dean wants to do this forever.

So they do. Every day-except for Sunday, because the Novak's attended Church and spend the day with family-from noon until sundown. They talk about their favorite hobbies; Dean likes to play make believe with Dragons and Magic while Castiel likes to read, also about Dragons and Magic. Dean likes the color blue while Cas likes Green best. Dean wants to follow in his uncle's footsteps and be a Mechanic while Castiel wants to be a writer.

Then they go to school-different schools- and they have to show up later and leave earlier. Castiel is a magnificent student, while Dean has trouble with a few of his subjects. Castiel is an ace at Math and English, Dean is far better with Physical Education and History. Dean helps Cas memorize dates and names for history while Cas walks Dean through whatever problem he can whenever Dean actually admits he needs help.

Eventually Sam gets older and Dean is more than happy to let his brother join in their park escapades. The three of them get along wonderfully; Sam and Cas are nerds, Cas and Dean are geeks, and Sam and Dean will always be there for each other.

In all of the time he's known Cas, Dean has never asked where he lives or visits. Vice versa,; Cas has never asked where his house is or has been to it. Dean thinks about it often, but brushes it off, thinking it doesn't matter.

Then it happens. It's Dean's first day of Junior High, and he's excited to find out whom his class mates are and what kind of experience he is going to have. He never makes it through his first class. Two police men pull him out of class, both wearing somber expressions. They won't tell him anything, not even when they pick up Sammy as well, who is twice as confused as Dean is. They are taken to the police station, held there in a stiff, cold room. It's three hours before their Uncle (who wasn't really their uncle, but a super close friend of their Dad's) Bobby arrives to get them. The first words out of Dean's mouth are 'Where's Mom and Dad?' Their dad was actually home this week- For Dean entering Junior High-so they were all supposed to have a big affair at their house. He was going to ask Cas if he wanted to come over for it.

Bobby just looked at the boys really sad. There was a fire at the house while their Dad had gone to the store for something he'd forgotten to buy. Their mom didn't get out of the house in time and she was gone. Sam is sad, but he doesn't understand the full weight of the words. Mom is…gone. Dean will never see his mother again. He breaks down and cries, clutching onto Bobby like his life depends on it. Police Officers ask Bobby a few questions before letting them go. By the time they get out of the station it was a little after three. Dean asks Bobby to go to the Park just three blocks down from their burned down house. There's nothing left of their home.

He needs to talk to Cas. He needs Cas right now. He needs Cas to tell him everything will be alright. Sam and Bobby wait in the car talking, sad and silent, probably playing old music that Dean normally loves, but right now he wants to hurt anything that even closely looks like its happy. Castiel is usually here right after his school lets out, but Dean knows thinks come up often with their schedules, but they would always show up even if only for five minutes. Neither boy has a phone so they can't text each other. Dean was determined to stay though.

It isn't until the sun is setting that he realizes that Cas hasn't shown up yet. He had spent the entire afternoon alone with his despair and horrible thoughts. Bobby hesitantly walks up to Dean, and tells him they have to go soon. Dean nods, but they don't actually leave until well after dark. Dean lays down in the back seat of Bobby's truck, wondering if something horrible has happened to Cas as well as his mom? Dean's chest constricts tightly like a cobra has his heart in a death grip. He can't lose his mother and best friend on the same day. When he gets home he calls Cas' home phone but no one answers. All twenty six times.


	2. The Crash

The day after the fire, Bobby had calls early to excuse the two boys from school, and he drives Dean to the park- it's too far to walk. Dean waits all day, but Cas doesn't show up or answer his house phone. The same thing happens the next day, or the next, or the one after that. It's like a ritual; Bobby picks the boys up from school and drops them off at the park at three every day. Dean stays at the park every day, doing his homework or playing a game on the weekends. No matter what, Dean spends all of his free time at the park where he met Cas.

Sam comes with him often, silently doing his homework on the same bench as Dean. He doesn't comment when Dean's head snaps up at a new arrival or mention Dean's barely audible whimper when it's not Cas. He helps Dean when he gets stumped because Sam's a really smart kid and Dean is really proud of Sammy and he knows he'll go far in life. Sam is also growing like a weed, which Dean gives him a ridiculous amount of grief over.

John, their father, falls into alcoholism before Dean even leaves Junior High School. He's not abusive, but he is loud and angry. He eventually loses his ability to hold a stable job. Bobby sends him to rehab, multiple times, but John always relapses. Bobby is granted custody of Sam and Dean.

By the time Dean hits high School, he has a reputation as the bad boy and the dark broody one, and there's a rumor floating around that he can kick someone ass six ways from Sunday, which he can because Bobby taught him and Sam how to defend themselves. He doesn't dissolve the rumors, but he doesn't confirm them either. He becomes close friends with Jo Harvelle and Ash. Jo and Ash live with Ellen- Jo's mom, who scares the pants off of Dean- at the Roadhouse which is Ellen's bar; their house is on the second floor. Sam is friends with a sweet girl named Jess (who Dean thinks has a crush on Sam and vice versa) and a girl named Ruby who is a bitch (Dean thinks she also has a crush on Sam). The only people who know where Dean disappears to all hours of the day are Sam, Bobby, and Jo. Not even John knows where Dean goes every day. Jo has never met Cas, but he knows they'd be amazing friends.

When Dean becomes a sophomore in High School, his life is thrown for another spin; new evidence is found in the case of their house fire. The evidence being; John Winchester was a cheating bastard who had an illegitimate son. Kate Milligan had left an anonymous note for the Winchester boys (and Bobby) so they go to the Police Station. They go, curious. The woman confesses to killing Mary Winchester with the hope of getting John to return to her, but she can't live with the guilt anymore. She pulls out a gun and Dean only has enough time to pull Sam's head into his chest as the woman blows her brains all over the police station.

Sam knows what happened; he knows, but Dean saw. The blood haunts Dean in his sleep and Bobby gets his a therapist, trying to work through it. He goes through therapy for months. But They still had one problem; Adam Milligan. Technically, he was Sam and Dean's brother, but it was proof that John had not, in fact, been the loving loyal father they though he was before their mother had died. Adam hadn't seen what his mother had done at the police station, but when he learns what she did to Mary he cries. Bobby takes Adam in because he is technically a Winchester. Dean is uncomfortable, but he accepts that Adam is a part of their family. Sam is more than enthusiastic to have a younger brother, but Dean knows Sam will always chose him when it's important. John, however, hates Adam.

Adam isn't allowed at Cas' park. Only Sam and Jo are allowed to accompany Dean there. No one else comes to the park because of Dean's phantom reputation. Adam does settle into school very nicely though, making a few friends that Dean doesn't know and he doesn't bring them to Bobby's house. John and Dean's relationship-what little there was- withered instantly with the knowledge Dean had gained from Kate. Dean hates his father for being immoral and a hypocrite. He disobeys John at every turn, Sam close behind. The two older brothers know Adam hates John just as much, but they know he'll never speak out of turn for fear of being thrown out, so they speak up for him. They do talk about it though, how Adam feels about their whole situation.

When dean becomes a Junior in High School, fate decides to play with Dean again. His father had pestered Dean into going with him to the Bank with some talk about something being wrong with Dean's trust fund- the one his mother had made secretly. Dean is grumbling the whole way, but the engine of his father's Impala mutes it out. The Impala was his second favorite place as a child. It always calmed him down. As a child it was the quickest way to get him asleep. They never got to the bank.

John, in one of his sober spells, had an excellent reaction time. But someone could only swerve so quickly when a large semi-truck comes at you from oncoming traffic. He swerved, but the semi clips the end of the Impala, sending it into a tailspin. John throws his right arm out in front of Dean, his fatherly instincts reacting immediately. When they skid to a stop, the first thing John does is ask Dean if he's alright. Before Dean can answer, a truck slams into the driver side, sending them flipping over the orange monster. The Impala lands on her top; all windows are obliterated and the engine looks mangled.

John unbuckles himself, hitting the floor hard. Dean goes to do the same but moving his arm cause pain to shoot through him like lasers. John looks at his son with unfiltered concern. He gently helps Dean out of the seat buckle and onto the floor. John kicks his door open after three attempts while Dean's is missing completely. Dean gets out of the car, holding his arm close. The Winchesters quickly limp off the road near the small forest (more like a collection small collection of large trees) bordering the freeway. Dean leans on the tree for support, legs feeling like Jell-O. John pulls out his cell phone and calls 911. Before anyone can do anything else, an explosion shakes everyone not even a quarter mile down the road. Dean hears more screeching tires before something solid collides into him; solid, but not a car.

Dean looks up and screams. The sight will have him in therapy for years to come; John was pinned to the tree Dean had been leaning on with a small four door sedan. John groans in pain, and Dean is by his side in seconds begging him to hold on. Dean knows to call the police, but he doesn't want to leave his father alone in case…Dean shakes himself and scrambles to his father's discarded cell, where the dispatcher is calling for someone to answer. Dean tells her where they are and what happened while he checks the driver and his two small children for signs of life. The man driving is dead, and one of his children is badly injured and bleeding, but the younger girl is relatively fine and crying for her dad and brother. Dean tears at his shirt to try and stop the bleeding, wishing and wondering why he can't do anything for his father. Dean has taken plenty of first aid classes-something Bobby insisted on when they'd gone to live with him- and he's smart enough to know his father is dead and his brain just hasn't caught up yet.

Dean goes back to his father when he knows the boy won't bleed out without him. It's registered in his brain what's happened, but seeing the pain his father is in breaks Dean's heart and he would give anything to trade places with his father. Dean knows his father's chances are slim to begin with-infinitesimal in fact- but the longer the paramedics take, the lower Johns chances are getting. That doesn't stop Dean from begging his father to stay with him; he promises to be good, he promises to get Sam to behave too.

It takes twenty three minutes for the ambulance to find them. While they wait, John tells Dean about how much he loved Mary-still loves her-and how much he messed up when he cheated on the only woman in the world he actually cared for. He tells Dean how he loves Sam and Dean-Adam too, but he'd never even known about Adam, he never got a chance to meet the boy on one of his good days. He never got a chance to tell Dean how badly Mary's death affected him, but he sees now that he wasn't the only one effected and he's sorry. No one should lose their mother so young, John knows because he lost his dad that young. John holds his sons hand, and tells him how much he loves Dean and he is so proud of his champ- and Dean cries harder because John hasn't called him that since his mother was alive- and no matter the choices Dean makes, he will always love him, and he will always be proud. There is nothing in this universe that could ever make John hate Dean and he wants Dean to know that. John is so happy that he was able to give the world the gift of Dean Winchester; and Sam and Adam, though John wishes once more that he'd been able to actually meet his youngest son.

It takes twenty three minutes for the ambulance to find them, but it only took John Winchester nineteen to bleed to death.


	3. The Beach

The first time Dean wakes up after the accident he's alone. There are no nurses, no family, and no friends. He lies there, in pain, with his arm in a cast, silently asking God why He hates him so much. He doesn't get an answer. Silently, he cries because his parents are gone and he wonders how long until everyone else he cares about drops dead as well. His head lolls to the side and he sees his mother's angel statue. It's small and insignificant, with far too many pastel colors, but Dean cries all over again because the pain is still there. Only now it's doubled. He knows he'll sleep better with the angel there, but he also wants to chuck the offending thing across the room.

The second time he wakes up, Sam is right by his bed, Adam is a little farther away from Dean, and he can hear Bobby talking to the doctor in the hall way. His family is here and all he can do is smile weakly at Sam. His big-little brother is blubbering about how he was so afraid he'd lost Dean and how sorry he is. He never should have let them go. The first word out of his mouth is 'Bitch'. Sam cracks a smile, laughing despite the situation and calls back with a 'Jerk'. Dean can't help but think Adam feels a little left out so he grabs the baby Winchester and they have a group hug. They're all sworn to secrecy because Winchesters don't do chick flick moments. Bobby barges in, eyes wet but not crying, and yell at Dean about how grounded he is and asks if Dean has any idea what he put them all through.

Dean leaves the hospital three days later with a neon orange cast on his arm (Ash had visited him while he'd been unconscious) and black Sharpie'd toe nails (Jo got revenge on the make-up fiasco of fourth grade). Dean was more than happy to leave the hospital and go home. It's not even three days after that, that their small makeshift family is attending John Winchesters funeral. Dean knows he has a big family who loves him, but right there, standing in front of his parents-laid to rest side by side-he can't help but feel so alone. Like the world is trying to drown him in sorrow. He can't help but be bitter towards God for forcing him to live without his parents.

But then again, he's not really parentless. Bobby is his surrogate father; he teaches him everything he can about cars when he can, he taught all of them self-defense, and how to handle guns. Ellen, even though she could never replace Mary, is the best maternal figure Dean has; she taught the boys how to mix drinks, gave them their first bit of alcohol, and-secretly because none of his friends can know-she's teaching Dean all of her recipes and his mother's old recipes. And even without parents, his family is so big.

Dean's life returns somewhat to normal. He goes to school, people spread rumors about his broken arm-

'He got it in a gang fight on his turf!'

'The mafia got him cause he owed money!'

'He got it fighting a dinosaur in space, while simultaneously fending off a comet that was going to destroy the world!'

-yeah that last one was Garth, but Dean wasn't going to ruin his fun no matter how ridiculous he got. He still went to school, he still had some trouble, he still went to the park every day after school.

It's not even two weeks after things go back to normal when things twist again. Dean considers himself a pretty open guy. He accepts people for who they are not what they do. So he only has one problem when he finds out that his uncle is seeing a guy; Dean saw _everything_. And he meant _everything_. On the kitchen table. In the middle of the afternoon. On a weekend. Needless to say, the Winchester boys spent the night in the 'Children of Letters' hideout that night, getting drunk and acting stupid. That was how the boys got introduced to Crowley McLeod, business man and longtime boyfriend of Bobby Singer. None of the boys care when they're sat down for the discussion. The only thing they request from their uncle; keep it in their bedroom!

It happens one day out of the blue. Dean comes home directly after school one day and heads to bed. Sam and Jo are left at the park waiting, but when no one at all shows, they go home. It doesn't happen again for another three weeks. But this time he doesn't go to sleep, he lounges around in the living room. It happens again nine days later; he comes home and asks Bobby to work on his father's Impala. Eventually, Dean stops going to the park at all. He comes home, does his homework, and works on the Impala. At first Bobby is worried, but Dean's therapist says it's a good thing that Dean is finally moving on.

Dean no longer holds his memories close. He tells all of his other friends about _him_ and the Park. They all even go there one day together and goof off. But after that day, Dean makes a silent vow to himself to never go back to that park again. He can't spend the rest of his life waiting for his old best friend. He spends all of his time hanging out with his friends who are getting older, but none of them are capable of growing up. He works on his father's car in his spare time, and it's finished by Summer break. When Dean goes to give Bobby the keys, Bobby just hands them back.

It was John's car, so it should go to Dean. Dean things that his summer just got infinitely better. Their group of friends decide to go to the lake. Dean drives his Impala, with Sam as his shotgun and Charlie and Jo are in the back. Ash is driving his pick-up with Garth and Adam. Sam's friends Jess and Ruby are driving in Jess' little beetle. They go to the lake, and they have the best time that they've had in a very long time. For that day, no one is missing. No one is incomplete. No one is sad.


	4. The Fight

Dean starts his senior year on a high note. Charlie started that LARPing club and had asked Dean to be her Vice-President, to which he happily agreed. Sam was dating Jess, much to Dean's happiness. He didn't know her all that well, but he knew she loved Sam more than anything, so he wished them all of the happiness in the world. Jo and Ash had started dating as well, but that really only freaked everyone out a bit. Charlie and Dean were both single and loving it. Both had had girlfriends before, but they knew dating wasn't for them (for the time being of course). Dean isn't behind on credits, neither is Sam, who's a sophomore this year because Sam was insanely smart and skipped eighth grade.

Dean only had two required classes; English and Government/Econ. So the rest of his schedule is filled with electives and Dean couldn't be happier. He got RoP Auto shop (which is two periods long and twice the credits), Band with Garth and Ash, and Theater with Charlie and Jo. After school, if he doesn't hang out with his friends, he either helps his uncle in the salvage yard working on Junkers or he's at the Roadhouse bartending/cooking with Ellen. He's close to all of his friends and he's even gotten closer to Adam, who is starting to hang out with them after school. Dean is happy like he hasn't been since his mom was alive. And he tries to not think about Cas, but he does cross his mind. It's a bit hard when Sam occasionally goes to Cas' Park with Jess to 'hang out' but Dean knows he's still waiting. Dean pretends like he doesn't though. He's touched that Sam cares that much.

It's about three weeks in when Dean hears a commotion in the hallway. A bunch of Jocks are bullying a student even though it's against the rules. It starts off verbal (one sided but still) before the captain of the football team pushes the boy to the floor. Dean walks closer to the fight, hoping someone closer will interfere in time, but the jerk –Dirk, he thinks is his name- pushes the kid again before he can even get up completely. Dean is standing between Dirk and his victim and Dean has no idea what he's doing. He's never stood up to anyone before, not really. There's never been an incident where he's had to. Dirk yells at him to mind his own business and Dean smirks and replies that he's making it his business. Dirk takes a swing at Deans' head and it's like second nature to pull his body back out of the way. That only makes Dirk madder than he was. He swings again but this time Dean ducks and skirts away to the side. Dirk is pissed now, paying more attention to Dean than the kid on the floor. Dirk swings again, but this time Dean doesn't dodge. He grabs Dirks arm mid swing and knee's him in the gut, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. That's when Dirks friends get involved. They come after Dean and right as one is about to grab him Sam tackles him from out of nowhere. Another goes to grab him and Adam socks him right in the jaw. Dean see's Garth checking on the kids on the floor while Ash is keeping Jo from joining the fray. But he's paid attention to his friends too long and one of the assholes on the football team has punched him in the jaw. It hurts, but it'll only bruise. He drops the guy with a punch to his solar plexus.

All of the guys attacking are down for the count, and Dean feels a wave of guilt come over him. They're all going to get in trouble even if it was only in self-defense. Well, maybe not self-defense, but they started it. The Winchesters finished it. Before the teachers arrive, Dean walks over to the kids and asks him if he's alright. The kid looks at him and Dean feels like he's been thrown out to sea. He can't breathe and everything sounds like it's coming through a wall of water. He knows the kid is thanking him and he knows he's alright, but he can't focus on the words. He's thin, but not bony. He's tall, but shorter than Dean. He has wild black hair and bright blue eyes. Dean's heart beat triples as he looks at him. He starts sweating. He can't swallow through the lump in his throat. He opens his mouth to talk but that's when Jess rounds the corner with the football coach. Mr. Hendrickson is livid, sending everyone involved to the principal's office.

His brothers walk over to Dean to see if he's alright. Adam has barely got the question out of his mouth when they see Dean's condition. He's done it before. He's started to silently hyperventilate, and he's going to pass out if he doesn't calm down. They ask him what's wrong and Mr. Hendrickson hears it. The coach is next to Dean right before his legs give out and he faints. Mr. Hendrickson freaks out, thinking one of his players has given Dean a concussion, but Dean's friends convince him it's normal and he just needs to rest. Mr. Hendrickson tells Ash and Jo to get Dean to the nurses office and call his guardian. They agree while Sam, Adam, the unknown kid, and half of the football team head to the principal's office.


	5. Extra: Sam 1

Sam sits in Principal Naomi's office with Adam and the weird kid across from half the football team. He's seething because she wants to expel all of them, even though the Winchester boys were defending another student. She wants to play at being sympathetic, but she's not. Not really. She's just like every other adult who tries to talk down to them because they're younger.

"You can't expel us, Principal Waters. This is my first offense, same case with Adam. Dirk started beating up on this kid and Dean defended him. He's only ever gotten detention once, so you can't expel him either." Sam countered her threat, knowing he had saved their bacon. The boys from the Football team, however, probably wouldn't be so lucky. Most of them paled as they understood what his statement meant.

At least they weren't all idiots. Sam actually felt really good right now, knowing he was stronger than half of the football team. He could tell Adam was worried, but he grabbed his hand and squeezed it, reassuring him silently.

"You're right Sam, you Winchester boys are getting off lightly in my opinion. Because you were in a physical confrontation I'm going to have to suspend each of you with clean records for week. Those of you who have been suspended before will undoubtedly be expelled." Sam could swear she'd leveled her look on Dirk.

"What were you boys thinking attacking another student? On his first day even!" Their principal laid into the boys across from Sam and he watched silently, doing a small victory dance in his head. Each boy had their record pulled and the confrontation added. She pulled out the paper work for suspensions and expulsions respectively. Each boy there signed their paper, some relieved, some shocked, some even started crying.

After all of the paper work was finished (Bobby had taken care of his boys' earlier) his Uncle walked through the door with Dean and the Nurse. Dean looked at him and Adam, but not at anyone else. Even as the Principal explained what was happening. Sam felt a swell of pride as Dean looked his way when Ms. Waters said they were only being suspended, not expelled. Of course Dean would know that was Sam's doing. He wanted to be a lawyer after all.

Sam prides himself on knowing his family like the back of his hand, so when they get home and Dean's acting off, he tries his hardest to find out what it is. He knows it has to do with that kid they 'saved' earlier. He thinks about what it could be for hours.

It crashes into his brain Tuesday night who that kid _is_.


	6. The Consequences

Dean wakes up with the worst head ache he's ever had. It trumps the one's he got from arguing with his dad. It crushes the ones he got from crying after his mom dies. It even trumps the ones he got after Kate killed herself in front of him. His brain thumps against his skull with enough vigor to make a kangaroo jealous. He feels ill, like he's going to throw up, even though he'd had to skip breakfast that morning to get to school on time. He dry heaves once before he's rolling over to his right and throwing all of the contents of his stomach on the floor. The nurse rushes into the dim room at the noise, Bobby not far behind him. Dean groans, feeling miserable. But up chucking had seemed to help. The nurse steps around his vomit and helps him sit up straight.

She pulls out some pills that Bobby had to have brought because they're his prescription and hands them to him along with a bottle of water. Dean asks where the others are after he downs the entire bottle. Bobby explains that Sam and Adam are still with the principal and she wants to talk to Dean as soon as he's up to it. It's only about fifth period, and Dean would rather talk to that witch than go to class and listen to his teachers not matter how cool they were. They give him fifteen minutes before they're out the door and headed to the principal's office. Dean has a sinking feeling in his gut because Bobby had yet to give him any hints as to how he felt that his boys had gotten into a fist fight. He was probably furious, but waiting for them to get home to yell. Dean hadn't thought about disappointing Bobby when he'd done it. All he had thought about was standing up for that kid.

They get to the Principal's office and everyone is deathly silent. They get inside and they can see Sam and Adam glaring at Principal Naomi Waters. The football team is sitting on the other side of the room from the Winchester boys and their victim with Mr. Hendrickson. Naomi looks absolutely frustrated. Naomi explains the repercussions of getting into a fight on school grounds. He's going to be suspended for fighting, only on principle, because she admires that he stood up for someone else. She doesn't want to but all fighting participants are suspended for one week. Dean's gut drops even farther. Bobby is probably furious inside, but outside he calmly tells Ms. Waters that he understands completely and he's going to give his boys a strict talking to. Dean knows he's in for it because he got Sam and Adam in trouble. Adam was a freshman for Christ's sake. Sam was a sophomore with a bright future. He'd reduced Sam's chances of getting into the Law school he wanted.

Ms. Waters nods, letting the Winchester boys leave with Bobby. The four of them are halfway down the hallway when Bobby stops and whirls around on them. Adam looks down at his feet, scared to be abandoned by his makeshift family. Sam looks so sad; scared that he'd disappointed Bobby like Dean was. But Dean squares his shoulders, lifts his chin up. He would take Bobby's harsh words for all of them. Dean expects something along the lines of curses insults and punishments. He does get that, but not like he expects.

'Dean Winchester, you Idjit! I swear I ought to ground you for getting suspended! What were you thinking getting into a fight on school property? I swear I raised you better than this! You should have waited for school to get out before you whooped his sorry butt.'

And Bobby pulls him into a hug before telling Dean how proud he is that he kicked that Idjits butt and for standing up for someone weaker than him. He pulls Sam and Adam into it and they have a family group hug in the middle of the hallway before going home and having a huge barbeque that night with their whole family.

Ellen and Bobby spend most of their time arguing over which liquor is better, with Bobby trying to be the only adult at the event. Charlie and Dean are trying to watch Lord if the Rings but Jo and Ash are making out while Sam and Jess are arguing about which LotR's movie is the best. Garth is in the kitchen attempting to bake for his Home Ec. Class, but everyone knows Garth can't cook his way out of a wet paper bag. Adam is on his laptop doing something Dean can't see while half-watching the movie. Dean and Charlie eventually yell at Sam and Jess that the books are better and to 'STFU' before they attacked them with a pillow.

Dean doesn't tell anyone why he passed out; Sam doesn't even know. He hides it away and dreads going to school the following Wednesday. He doesn't want to skip his classes, but he does want to avoid the people who go there. Dirk was sure to want revenge. And the kid he defended could want to talk to him. God he was not looking forward to Wednesday.

Surprisingly, Dean, Sam, and Adam are not grounded, so they spend the time they have off lounging around town. It's weird, but they all enjoy it. It gives them time to hang out and talk- but there are no 'chick flick' moments whatsoever. At all. None. Okay one where Dean thanks Sam and Adam for having his back and there are some tears, but no one gets to know about that. It's a Winchester secret. They'll take it to their grave.


	7. The First Day Back

They've been gone a full week when the Winchester boys show up at school again. There are even more rumors rushing about, these ones even crazier than any of the others, and Dean can't help but think they should mind their own business. He can tell Sam's flustered with his reputation as the good Winchester spiraling down the crapper, but Adam seems to care less than Dean does. Their ragtag family jokes before classes start and Dean finds it amusing that people are avoiding him. And it's all fun and games until about halfway through first period when the new kid walks in panting and flushed from running and apologizing profusely about being late. Mr. Shurley doesn't care, and the other students snicker because Mr. Shurley _never_ cares. Then he starts walking over to Dean's table and _DAMN_ Mr. Shurley because there's assigned seating and of course he'd sit next to Dean. Thankfully the bell rings and Dean's out of that room so fast he can't even hear Mr. Shurley telling him to slow down. Dean thinks he'll get all of the work he missed at lunch.

He ran out of that class so fast, his heart is racing even when he reaches his Econ class. Luckily, there's no new kid, and Ms. Talbot makes a big deal about Dean's suspension. He knows it's all in good fun, because really they have a love/hate relationship. Dean is an A+ student in this class, but he's a havoc to actually have in class. They tease and joke and poke fun at each other, but they respect each other. That class goes by with laughs and jokes and everyone is telling some of the most ridiculous theories as to _why_ Dean Winchester _actually_ got suspended. None of them are actually close.

Next, Dean gets to Band-five seconds before the bell because Ms. Talbot held him back to tease him in private- where ne nearly has a heart attack, because there he is again, sitting in the corner with his hands in his lap. Dean silently thanks the god he doesn't believe in that today they're doing silent book work because Mrs. Barnes had a 'headache'. They all knew it was a hangover, but no one said anything. Dean sat next to Garth and Ash, silently talking and trying to not have _another_ panic attack. That class passed rather uneventfully, and the three friends raced to the lunchroom-Dean was grateful Ash had the idea. They eat lunch with all of their friends and Dean doesn't see him at all. It's a small reprieve, but Dean takes what small miracles he can get.

After Lunch is Auto Shop and that's an hour and a half long- two periods with Mr. Turner covered in grease-and Dean can't think of a better way to spend his time. He's good with cars. He can tell what's wrong with an engine just by sound most of the time. With his arms elbow deep in a Honda's hood, he can't think of anything he'd rather do for a living. But eventually Gordon-Mr. Turner's assistant- calls clean up. They put everything away and wash most of the grease off of themselves.

Dean picks up his backpack and scuffles off to Theater with Mr. Roché. He sits in the back after their five minute pep talk. Charlie and Jo fill him in on the scene they have to preform and he nearly yells at them for not bringing it up while they were over all week. He's not too mad; he's got a week and a half to memorize it. He almost doesn't notice him. _Almost_. Charlie and Jo don't notice; or if they do, they don't say anything, and Dean is grateful.

They agree to meet for LARPing club twenty minutes after the bell so everyone can get their things/put their things away. After Theater, Dean heads to his locker, looking forward to hanging out and being stupid with his friends. He puts away his Auto book as well as his Econ workbook, and picks up his English Senior Project folder. When he finishes, he closes his locker to see the new kid standing uncomfortably close. Dean jumps back, clutching at his heart; he doesn't think he's been that surprised/shocked since Halloween when he was nine and he thought a man was a corpse. The new kid nods at Dean and says Hello in an unusually deep voice. His gaze is serious and somber. Dean can't seem to get his heart to stop racing as he introduces himself as Castiel Novak. He starts thanking Dean and apologizing for getting him suspended and that's all he can hear before the blood is pounding in his ears. He hopes he doesn't pass out.

Castiel stops talking, looking at him with worry and Dean _thinks_ he asks if he's okay. Before he answers, Dean hears his name being called from the opposite end of the hallway. He turns and see's Sam and Charlie walking up to them. He stammers out an apology to Cas before grabbing Charlie in one hand-his other holding his backpack, before racing off down the hallway. Dean knows he left Sam behind, but Dean is full out panicking and two turns later, Charlie is forcing him to stop She pulls out a brown paper bag and forces him to breathe into it while whispering comforting words to him. After he's calm enough not to pass out, the two make their way to the meeting room.

That day, no one does any LARPing. When Sam comes back, he forces what happened out of Dean. Dean tells them about everything. He tells them that the new kid is Cas. That he's here, after all of this time. He's here right after Dean had given up on him. And Dean can't help but feel guilty that he did.


	8. Extra: Cas 1

Normally, Castiel's mornings start with being woken up by his alarm clock at five thirty. He'll hit the snooze button until six o'clock. After that, he'll take a short shower, head down stairs, eat a nice full breakfast, before Gabriel drives him and Anna to school.

This morning however, started off with a loud banging on his door, Gabriel screeching that they're late with Anna's tooth brush hanging out of his mouth. Anna is showering, singing obnoxiously loud, trying to make her father upset. Cas jumps out of his bed, gets twisted up in the sheets and collides with the floor. Groaning, he pushes himself up, grabs a change of clothes, and rushes into the bathroom on the second floor. He jumps in the shower and has five seconds of peace before Gabriel is shouting at him to hurry up before he jumps in with him. Cas knows he'll do it too- he has done it- so he scrubs furiously at his hair before rinsing it out and hopping out. Cas gives Gabe the all clear so the brunette barges in, stark naked, before jumping in the shower. Cas gets dressed and rushes down the stairs, running past Anna's singing and into the kitchen, trying to avoid Zachariah's study.

Cas makes the three of them toast; just butter for him, strawberry jam for Anna, and butter, cinnamon, and sugar for Gabriel. Cas hefts his bad over his shoulder before anxiously shifting his weight from foot to foot. Gabriel runs past Cas with Anna hot on his heels. She's yelling as loud as she can and the three of them are out of that door right as Zachariah's study door swings open. They rush to Gabriel's Corvette Stingray and they're tearing down the road before Zachariah can rip the front door open.

Cas hates the way Gabe drives; he's too fast, he rarely stops at stop signs, and his turns are far too wide. Cas grips the edge of his seat the entire way to school. Gabe turns into the student parking area so hard Cas is practically laying sideways in his seat. Here, Gabe finally slows down, not wanting to hit anyone else's car with his own. As Cas is slinging his bag back over his shoulder, Gabe slams on the brakes. Anna looks like she wants to punch Gabe but she just asks him if he's retarded.

Gabe ignores both of them as he ogles another car in the parking lot, sitting near the front entrance. Cas knows it's a muscle car, but not much beyond that. Gabe makes a comment about how beautiful it is and some other odd things, so Cas and Anna just get out while the car is still and make their way into the school.

He only has ten, maybe fifteen, minutes of class left when he gets to Mr. Shurley's class. He apologizes to his English teacher before making his way to the seat he'd been assigned. There was a new boy sitting in the usually empty seat. When he got to his seat he realized it's the boy who had stood up for him; the one who had been suspended for him on his first day.

Cas sits down and thinks about how he should act. Should he introduce himself? Should he ignore him? Cas shook that idea off because that would be extremely rude. Cas was so far in his head, he jumped when the bell rang for class to end. The boy next to him jumped up and ran out the door. Cas packed up and looked to see which way he'd gone, but he couldn't tell. Cas decided he'd introduce himself and thank his savior.

His next class was home Ec. He still couldn't get out of it, unfortunately, because his counselor told him that all other electives were taken up. But he worked diligently in all of his classes, this one was no exception. After that he had Band, which had the boy again. Cas wondered how many classes they had together; or if they had lunch together. Their band teacher forced them to be quiet, claiming she had a head ache, but Cas had his suspicions. The entire class period, Cas tried to convince himself to just get up and go over to him, but his legs wouldn't move. Before he knows it the bell is ringing again and he goes running off with his friends, leaving Cas behind again.

Then Cas has lunch, and he sees him, but he's surrounded by a large group of people and Cas is afraid of crowds. He's having a hard time in the cafeteria without anyone looking at him. He can't imagine approaching a large group of people and having everyone look at him like he's imposing on them-which he probably would be. It figured that the guy he wanted to talk to was popular; he had stood up for him. He probably did that for all of his friends. Cas left the cafeteria with his food and headed to the nice quiet library.

His next class is Econ, but he's not in this class. And of course he wouldn't be in the 9th grade English class he TA's for. But he is in Theater, so Cas is kind of happy. He was always talking to his friends, but here, with these two girls, he's especially loud. Cas can hear him laugh and it's rather nice. He also over hears their plan to go to their lockers, and decided to talk to him there. So after their final class ends, Cas follows him down a couple hallways-he's rather tall so he has longer strides. Cas had always considered himself tall, but he stood about half a foot taller. It would be weird to talk up to someone for once.

He's finishing up when Cas catches up and closes the distance. He's standing right next to him when he closes the door to his locker. When he notices Cas, he jumps back and clutches at his chest, like he's trying to stop his heart from popping out of his chest.

"Hello." Cas manages to get out and God, he didn't think it would be this hard to talk to someone he didn't know. It usually isn't. He doesn't say anything; he just keeps staring at Cas with the greenest eyes he's ever seen.

Cas continues, "My name is Castiel Novak, and I would like to thank you for what you did last week. I would also like to apologize for getting you suspended before we were ever properly introduced." He panicked a bit. "Not that I was planning to get people I know in trouble, it's just- I have a hard time saying what I meant most of the time and you're probably thinking I'm really weird right now because I'm rambling. Cas you really need to stop rambling, this is me not rambling. I'm stopping." Cas bites his lips painfully hard before he notices the other doesn't seem to be paying attention. He looks like a deer caught in headlights. He looks like he did right before he passed out a week ago.

"Are you okay?" Cas is worried he's going to pass out again, and that would be rather awkward.

He doesn't respond.

"Dean!"

"Hey, Winchester!"

The boy in front of him whirls around and Cas leans over a bit to see who's calling out to him. There's a taller boy-Cas didn't know they could get taller than Dean without being beefed out- and a short red-head who's not Anna walking towards them.

The boy- Dean-turns back to him, "Sorry, I gotta go, late for club!" He darts at the girl, dragging her down the hall she'd just come down like there's a bear behind him. The other boy looks down the hallway with fond exasperation. Apparently this is a common occurrence.

He just smiles at Cas, "Sorry about my older brother, he's such a weirdo sometimes. It's good to see you're still in one peice without me and my brothers here." It takes Cas a minute to realize he's joking.

"Oh, yes. I was just thanking Dean. Thank you as well…"

"Sam."

"Thank you Sam. I should get going."

"Yeah, me too." Sam waves at him as he makes his way back down the hall after his brother and the redhead.

Cas heads out into the parking lot where an irritable Gabriel is waiting with a pissed off Anna. He smiles apologetically and they go home. He does his homework. He helps Uriel, Zachariah's wife, prepare dinner. They eat as a family after Grace. He gets ready for bed.

Then it hits him like a ton of bricks as his head hits the pillow.

Dean.

Winchester.

_Dean Winchester._

He just talked to _**Dean Winchester**_.

After nearly six years, he'd talked to Dean Winchester. And he'd run away from him.

Cas has half of his classes with him.

Tomorrow was going to be an awkward day.


	9. The First Attempt

Dean spends over an hour trying to calm his friends down and NOT confront Castiel. He doesn't understand why they're all so upset in the first place. Dean is shaken up, but it's not as if Castiel set out to give him an anxiety attack. Sam takes Dean home, even though he had a 'study date' with Jess. Dean feels like crap because he knows how much Jess means to his little brother. They all go home and tell their parents what's going on. Bobby tells Dean to buck up and face it like a man. Dean agrees, readying himself for his confrontation with Castiel the next day.

Dean's the one late the next day, by an hour. That earns bitch face #43 from Sam, silent mumbling from Adam, and the promise of a serious talking to from Bobby. Of course, this means he misses Cas in English. Dean silently curses; it's not like catching up was going to be easy in the first place. Ms. Talbot just makes it worse by giving him detention for being three _fucking_ seconds late to her class; all because her boyfriend dumped her.

He walks as slowly as possible to Band, not really wanting to talk to Cas. A small part of him wonders what Cas has been doing all this time, away from him. The bigger part of him, the part of him that wants to punch Cas really hard, reminds the smaller part that Cas left them alone. For years. He gets to Band and sits with Garth and Ash like normal, not even looking at Cas. The entire class period is spent goofing off when some girl asks Mrs. Barnes about her honeymoon and they all congregate to one side of the room to giggle and tell girly stories. Dean thinks he wouldn't like her as much as he does if it weren't for the fact that she could be a badass when she wanted to. Before he can figure out what to do, Ash is whispering to him that Cas is coming over here. Dean looks and, sure enough, he's making his way across the room to him.

"Hello, Dean." Dean can't really figure out how Cas' voice got that deep, but he isn't complaining. He isn't happy either, he really isn't!

"Cas." Dean stares at the chair ahead of him, trying to ignore Cas' presence.

"It's good to see you again."

"You too, I guess."

There's an awkward moment where Dean won't look up at Cas and Cas won't leave. So Garth, the little shit he is, invites Cas to sit in the empty chair next to them. Cas, however seems to fidget before agreeing and sitting down. They sit there for a few minutes before Ash pipes up.

"So how do you know Dean?"

Dean just glares at his friend because he knows how they know each other; he'd given him the run down not too long ago before the refresher course yesterday.

"Dean and I knew each other when we were younger."

Dean stops himself from saying something he knows he'll regret and bites the inside of his lip. He doesn't stop even when he tastes blood. He hates how awkward this is; he hates that Cas seems unaffected even more. Garth and Ash talk easily with Cas and Dean hates how easy it is for Cas to make friends, especially with_ his_ friends.

"Dean, are we still doing the barbeque this Saturday?" Ash asks him.

"Of course. Just hoping Crowley doesn't bring his damn dog." Dean knows he's making the face of a petulant six year old, but he really hates Growley.

"But he's so cute with his chubby ol' cheeks!" Garth really is weird, Dean thinks to himself.

They all spend the period making polite small talk, about this and that; which teachers Cas has, and which teachers he should avoid like the plague. They also breach the topic of the LARPing club, but Dean squashes that topic like it's a spider near Garth. When the bell rings, they all stand up together and head out the door. Cas follows Dean out the door before stopping him.

"Dean, I was wondering if we could talk, in private. I'd like to know how you've been over the past few years." There's a bit of silence before he tacks on, "I've missed you."

That ugly thing he bit down earlier comes out without his permission, "Then why didn't you pick up the phone? I know you had my number memorized Cas. It's not that hard to call and say 'Hey, guess what, last minute, but I'm dropping you and high tailing it out of town!'" Dean knows Cas should have a good reason, but he's still hurt.

"I had a lot going on, Dean. I didn't have time to call. I didn't really have any time to myself."

"Bullshit, Cas." He snaps, and he knows It came out harsher than he'd meant it to. "I bet I had a lot more going on than you and _I_ still found time to call every day for over a year, Cas." Dean won't ever admit out loud that at one point he'd called him twenty seven times in one day.

"I doubt that, Dean." Cas' voice is low and Dean's never seen Cas angry, but he has to admit he is a bit scary.

"Well, you wouldn't know, would you? You left. You have no idea what my life has been like since you _left_." Dean turns on his heel and leaves before Cas can get another word out.

Dean wants to punch something and he really doesn't want to go home to get teased by Crowley. He kind of hopes Sam will be willing to spar with him after school. Maybe Adam, but he's got an unfair advantage on him. Jo, maybe, if his day gets any worse. He forgoes lunch, feeling too upset to eat, which just earns him a bunch of shit from his friends. Sam seems to be in just as bad a mood as he's in, so they sit together on a bench far away from their friends and brood, like Winchester Men do.

After lunch, Dean gets lost in repairing that ugly Junker Bobby had given the Auto Shop Class last year. Dean couldn't understand how it kept getting worse after all the work he put into it. He had a hunch it was the Intro kids, but he had no proof. Two hours have never passed so fast for Dean, ever, and he hates that he has to go to Theater with Cas.

It's not so bad, they do a class exercise and Dean spends most of the time the focus isn't on him, guessing the answers Cas will give. He gets most of them right, and he doesn't know if he should be happy or mad at the fact that Cas hasn't changed all _that_ much.

After school, he drags himself to Ms. Talbot's only to have her tell him she's joking. She pokes some more fun at him and he decides to attack Sam after he gets to that field. He makes his way to the empty field behind the school to find everyone standing around just talking. He throws his bag down with all the others there and runs at Sam. He tackles Sam hard, using Sam's body to cushion his fall. Sam's had an equally bad day apparently, because he just throws Dean off and swings wide at Dean's head. Dean easily ducks, and hits Sam in the gut. He's going to be sore, but it's not going to bruise. Dean loves his brother too much to actually hurt him. Sam recovers from his stumble and drops to kick Dean's legs out from under him. Dean jumps, avoiding that but can't avoid the blow to his chest. He'd only just managed to cover his solar plexus.

'Sam must have had a really bad day.' Dean thinks before going back in. He knee's Sam in the gut, hard. He can hear Jess yell at them to stop. After all this time, she still doesn't understand how this is therapeutic for Winchesters. This is how they get things off their chest. Teasing is how they say they love each other.

After thirty minutes of stalemate, they both lay down on the grass, panting and out of breath. Dean and Sam can both tell Jess is pissed, but Dean doesn't care, and Sam will make it up to her in a couple minutes when he has his breathe back. Dean's mind goes down a dirty path, but he stops that because that's his brother and _gross_.


	10. The Days Between

After their fight, everyone went home happy. Sam made it up to Jess with the promise of a date next weekend; just the two of them. Dean can't help but think they're the cutest, grossest, cuddliest couple he's ever seen. He knows Jess makes Sam happy, but Dean can't help but wish she'd Accept Sam the way he is - weird quirks and all, not just the smart, geeky kid who wants to be a lawyer. He knows his little brother is amazing, and he wishes Jess could see all of it. He has no doubts that Jess loves Sam, but he knows that she could appreciate him more.

Friday passes uneventfully; Cas doesn't approach Dean and Dean stays away from Cas as much as possible. After school, Dean spends his time working on his Senior Project; building a car from scratch, with Bobby as his mentor. Saturday everyone gathers at Ellen's Roadhouse for a barbeque and reckless games galore. Sunday is spent out, because all parental figures are nursing a hangover and no one wants to deal with that. Bobby's extra grouchy, Crowley like poking at sore subjects, and Ellen has a shit ton of guns. Dean really doesn't want to deal with that.

So they go out and act like idiots at the local park. Not Cas' park, because Dean doesn't want to run the risk of seeing Cas there. He doesn't know how big that chance is, but he still doesn't want to risk it. That Monday, Cas tries to talk to him again. Dean's fine with it until Cas tries to bring up the past. He doesn't want to deal with that. He doesn't want to think about losing his mother again. He doesn't want to think about Cas abandoning him again. So Dean yells at Cas and storms off.

The same thing happens Tuesday. It happens on Wednesday, too. And Thursday. Even Friday. By Wednesday of the next week, Cas gets the memo. He still talks to Dean, but he avoids the past. When he talks to Dean, he takes a moment to think about the words he wants to say. Dean wants to be mean and chase Cas away, but a bigger part of him wants to let Cas back in; to tell him everything and to have Cas comfort him. But he doesn't let that happen. He's worked hard to not let that happen.

So two months go by, and Dean and Cas are somewhere between acquaintances and friends. As Dean and Cas grow closer, Sam and Jess seem to grow farther apart. Dean doesn't know if he should feel guilty; it's not his fault, it's just a sad coincidence. He knows Sam still loves Jess, but the longer they're together, the more Jess is unhappy. Dean hopes they work it out.


	11. The Drive Over

Dean's fine with the way things are until one bleak Thursday afternoon. Mr. Shurley assigns them projects to work on. Partnered projects. Assigned Partners. Dean ends up with Cas, and Dean honestly thinks God hates him. Why else would He do this to him? He asks to go to Cas' place, but Cas tells him that Zachariah is in a mood, and he would not like dealing with his 'family.' Cas says it with physical quotation marks, and Dean is more than a bit curious about quite a few things. First; who is Zachariah. Second; What happened to his family? Dean thinks maybe Cas did have it as bad as him. He makes a mental note to start opening up to Cas. So they head out to the school parking lot to get to Dean's Baby.

Cas heads over to, from Dean's point of view, a rather short boy Dean doesn't recognize.

"There you are Cassie! I was wondering if you'd gotten lost." He's sitting on the hood of a Corvette Stingray, and Dean just about has a heart attack for the gorgeous car.

"Dean, this is Gabriel." Cas introduces them and Dean thinks he's heard that name in passing.

"Nice to finally meet you, Dean." Gabriel sticks out his hand and Dean shakes it.

Dean circles around the car and asks, "This yours?"

"Yeah, sure is." Gabe sound absolutely full of himself and Dean hates it.

Dean remembers where he's heard the name before as he reaches the rear of the car.

"Dean and I have a project to work on, so I will be late in returning home. Please inform Zachariah."

Gabe sighs, "Yeah, sure thing Cassie."

"So you're the guy who was friends with Cas, before everything?" Gabe sneers at Dean as if he's an affront to nature and it pisses Dean off more than anything. Dean can tell Gabe is trying to get under his skin.

Dean keeps his face straight as he makes his way full circle around the car, his inspection complete. The car is well taken care of, but still well used. At least he doesn't throw money around like it's toilet paper.

"Yeah," He keeps his voice calm, like the subject hasn't shifted from a polite greeting at all, "And you're the guy who keeps getting turned down by my brother." He smirks now. "Must suck getting turned down all the time." He walks towards his Baby. "This way, Cas!" He waves for Cas to follow him.

He hears Cas talk to Gabe for a minute before rushing after him towards Baby. Dean sits in the drivers' seat as Cas cautiously approaches. He opens the door and climbs in slowly. He looks to be in awe and he can't stop looking everywhere. Dean actually feels nervous. Dean kind of hopes Cas approves.

"This is your car?" Cas asks, and Dean can't really tell how he feels from his tone of voice.

"Yup. Used to be my dad's, but she got wrecked. I fixed her up with Bobby last summer." Dean smiles over at Cas. He hopes Cas caught that he'd mentioned his dad. That he'd mentioned his past.

Cas made no indication of catching it. Dean sits in the drivers' seat waiting for Sam and Adam, thrumming his fingers against the steering wheel. They'd all agreed to go home directly after school today; so where the hell were they. Dean starts the car and starts backing up when Sam comes running out of the school. Dean thinks about just leaving, just to spite Sam, but he stops the car. Sam jumps in the car, doesn't ask why Cas' in his seat, and demands that Dean drive away right that second. Dean asks about Adam, but Sam blubbers out some kind of excuse, which is good enough for Dean.

"Oh, shut up. We're going, you big girl." Dean grumbles.

"Bitch." Sam hits his shoulder.

Dean doesn't react until they get to the intersection- Dean caught the red light- where he turns in his seat and punches Sam's thigh, _hard_. "Jerk!" Dean calls.

He turns back around as the light changes to green. He shifts, and drives on.

"So where's Adam? I couldn't understand through all that fumbling you did."

"This coming from the guy who passes out." Sam threw him bitch face # 11, "He's going to some friends house, I don't know. Someone named Rachel? Something like that."

Dean frowns, "I don't know any Rachel." He looks in his rear view at Sam for a second. But that's all they need to have a silent conversation. They're interrogating Adam when he gets home.

Sam spreads out in the back seat, his gangly limbs flying everywhere; even over the divider onto the arm rest. "Sam!" Dean swats his brothers feet.

"It's not my fault Cas took my spot. You know the back seat is small."

Dean puts a funny grin on his face, "Yeah." He drags out, insinuating something that's never actually happened. Sam freaks out anyway.

"Oh GOD! Dean! That's gross!" Sam sits up and fidgets, making Dean laugh.

"I don't understand." Cas calls from the passenger seat, looking at Sam for clarification.

That just makes Sam blush and Dean laugh harder. He's laughing doubles again when Cas looks at him like he's honestly confused. He's laughing so hard he has to pull over because he doesn't want to crash Baby. He spends the next ten minutes laughing. He laughs so hard he's crying, actually. At one point Sam asks Dean if he's okay. Dean just nods and tries to calm down.

"Oh, man. I haven't laughed that hard in a while." He wipes his eyes dry, before turning to Cas.

"I still do not understand what was so funny."

A smile breaks onto Dean's face and he's worried he might laugh again, but he holds it in. "Don't worry Cas, nothing to do with you." He pulls back onto the road.

Cas looks at Sam, hoping he'll explain, but Sam just shakes his head and blushes harder.


	12. The First Dinner

They make it to Bobby's about fifteen minutes later. Cas looks absolutely terrified when Growley tries to launch himself at Baby. He throws himself away from the door and onto the armrest. Dean just laughs and gets out. He picks up one of the large bones laying scattered around the yard and chucks it at Growley. The dog can't physically reach the car because of the chain he's attached to, but he's scary enough to scare off stupid teenagers who don't know he's actually a sweet heart under all those mean growls. Dean walks around the car and knocks on the window.

"You comin', Cas?" Dean calls with a raise eyebrow.

Cas looks from Growley to Dean, before slowly getting out of the car. Dean just walks past the large Doberman and Cas sticks close behind him. Sam follows behind after giving Growley some love.

"Bobby! We're home!" Dean hears no response.

Dean flings his backpack onto the couch and wonders into the kitchen to get something to drink and pull something out for dinner. Sam walks over to the couch and flings himself onto the far side and stretches out, popping some of his joints. Dean walks back in with two water bottles and a coke. He chucks one at Sam's head-he easily catches it- and hands the second bottle to Cas before sitting on the other end of the old, beaten couch.

"So, I figure we've got about an hour, maybe two tops to get any real work done." Dean and Cas get out their materials.

They're about an hour and a half in when Crowley waltzes through the door with Bobby in tow. By then, Dean is upside down on the couch with his feet over the back and his head near the floor. Cas is sitting on the recliner, back straight and shoulders stiff. Dean wonders why Cas feels the need to sit like that. Sam's struggling with his Advanced Calculus and he's glaring at his papers like they're out to get him.

"Hello, boys." Crowley calls as he walks passed them, into the study.

"Hello, Satan." Dean and Sam call in sync without looking up from their papers.

"What's going on here. I thought you boys weren't comin' home for another hour."

Bobby leans against the arch frame. Dean holds up the poster board he's doing with Cas. Bobby grunts in acceptance; homework is always a good answer.

He looks at Cas, "I don't think we've met. I'm Bobby Singer." He introduces himself.

"Castiel Novak. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Cas nods in Bobby's direction.

Bobby just raises an eyebrow before staring at Dean, "You sure this is the same kid? I can't see how you'd be friends." Dean hauls his body up to glare over the back of the couch.

"Haha, Bobby. Yeah, I'm sure." Dean flops back down.

"You kids ever agree on what you wanted for dinner?"

"I pulled out the ground beef because we tied between burgers and taco's." Dean calls out.

"Who wants what, ya Idjit?"

"Uh," He looks at Cas, "You wanna stay for dinner?"

"I would have to call Zachariah."

"Hold on." Dean gets up and walks into the study to find Bobby and Crowley talking over two glasses of scotch.

"Hey, Bobby, can Cas stay for dinner?"

"You're the one cookin'." That's as good as a yes from Bobby.

Dean walks back into the living room, "Phone's in the kitchen. Use the black one." Dean points into the kitchen.

Cas gets up and leaves to the kitchen. By the time he comes back, Dean's done with their poster. He holds it up for Cas to see. He nods his approval.

"Zachariah said I can stay, but to give more warning next time. He's upset that Uriel has made me food that I will not eat." Cas explains.

"Alright. Cool. Burgers or taco's?"

"Either is alright."

"No, dude, you gotta pick."

"Burgers, I suppose." Sam snorts and Dean chucks a pillow at his head.

"Alright. Well, I should probably get started on that. You stay here and… I don't know… geek with Sam." He rolls off the couch and heads into the kitchen to start dinner. After a few minutes The Harvelle's practically burst down the door. Jo launches herself onto the couch, dragging Ash with her. Ellen joins Dean in the kitchen and they talk about what's new with the Roadhouse and Dean's senior project. They talk a bit about Cas, but that's nipped in the butt when Adam and Garth walk into the kitchen. Adam manages to steal a bit of ground beef and that earns him a tomato to the back of the head. Well, he was supposed to, but when Dean saw Charlie talking to Cas, he launched it at her head instead. He was gratified by it exploding all over her head.

"Damnit Winchester!"

"Oops! I missed!" He lied. They all knew his aim was perfect.

"Winchester's don't miss."

He winks at her, "That's right sweetheart!" He ducks back into the kitchen before she can send the tomato remains back at him.

After everything is cooked and arranged, everyone lounges about in the living room to eat. Cas is still in the recliner, but now Dean is balancing on the left arm while Charlie is perched on the right. Everyone is joking and laughing around trying to devour their food. Cas even joins in after a while. Dean feels bad for not warning him that eating here meant dinning with twelve people.

After dinner, Cas tries to help clean up, but Charlie drags him out of the kitchen before Dean can accept. Not that he was going to. Dean puts all the leftovers in Tupperware and then in the fridge. He organizes the plate near the sink so it'll be easier for Sam and Adam to clean and dry them later. After that, he takes Cas home. As they're driving, they joke around and Dean really enjoys Cas' company. He remembers why they were friends in the first place.

Cas leaves, and Dean heads home happier today than he has been in a while.


	13. Extra: Cas 2

After nearly three months, Cas has learned a few things about Dean. One; Dean is very secure in what he likes and dislikes and very little can make him feel insecure. Two; Dean is very protective of his family and friends. Three; family and friends are virtually the same thing to Dean. Four; Dean knows his way around a car blind folded. Five; Dean enjoys listening to classic rock music at drum shattering volumes. Six; his opinion of his self-worth is extremely low on the scale. Seven; Dean is smart, whether it shows or not depends on if he applies himself.

After nearly three months, Cas has learned a few things about himself. One; He is rather insecure about what he likes and seeks approval often. Two; Cas really doesn't have many friends. Three; he's very distant from the Milton family. Four; Cas enjoys soft classical music, but only as background noise. Five; Cas has a very large crush on Dean. Six; he's too afraid of to do anything about it.

Cas thinks of himself as a coward, but he's just gotten Dean to open up to him again and he doesn't want to set himself back.

'Or drive him away completely.' His mind supplies.

So he's rather nervous when Dean invites him over to work on their project. He keeps his expression cool and agrees. The rest of the day flies by and before he knows it they're talking to Gabriel and he can't believe he's going to Dean's house.

Then Dean is not-so-subtly insulting Gabriel before walking off. Cas apologizes profusely before chasing after Dean. They reach the Impala and Cas can't help but fidget before climbing into what Dean has often referred to as Baby. It doesn't look like he thought it would and he can't help but think Gabriel must be extremely jealous right now.

"_This_ is your car?"

"Yup. Used to be my dad's, but she got wrecked. I fixed her up with Bobby last summer." Cas is stunned that Dean willingly gave up some information like that. He's happy that Dean trusts him again, on some level. They wait a while for Sam, who shows up frazzled. He demands they drive off right that second. They leave the school, and for most of the ride Cas remains silent, just watching the Winchester brothers interact. He doesn't talk until they make a joke he doesn't understand. His confusion just makes Dean laugh harder. He looks to Sam for explanation, but he keeps silent as they finish the drive to Dean's home.

He was not expecting Singer Salvage Yard as they make their way through huge piles of wrecked and junked cars. He did not expect a large dog to growl and snarl at him. He jumps away from the door, not expecting the dog to be on a leash. Dean just gets out of the car and throws something towards the dog to distract it. He's wary when he gets out of the Impala, but Dean asked him if he was coming. They get past the dog, who Sam gives a thorough petting. They get in the house and Dean calls out they're home. No one responds as Dean leaves into another room. Sam lounges on the couch. Dean returns and hands the two other occupants water bottles before setting himself on the couch. Cas, nervous, sits down on a recliner. Cas loses track of time, but before he knows it two older gentlemen are walking in the house.

One seems to be near fifty, very well dressed, with dark hair and eyes. He wears a well-tailored suit that compliments him very nicely. His voice is Scottish as he calls greeting. Cas doesn't expect the sarcastic greeting he gets in return. He does, however, as he continues walking past the living room and to the back of the house.

The other is nearer to sixty, scruffy, with greying hair and brown eyes. He wears worn, but comfortable looking clothing that fit nicely enough. His voice is as gruff as he looks when he asks them what they're doing home. Dean replies wordlessly.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Bobby Singer." His voice shocks Cas a bit, not expecting him to address him.

"Castiel Novak. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Cas nods in Bobby's direction.

Bobby just raises an eyebrow before staring at Dean, "You sure this is the same kid? I can't see how you'd be friends." Dean hauls his body up to glare over the back of the couch. Cas' gut clenches because he knows how hard that is to do without using your arms. His mind thinks about how strong Dean must be before shoving his mind back to the problem.

"Haha, Bobby. Yeah, I'm sure." Dean flops back down.

"You kids ever agree on what you wanted for dinner?" He walks away and Cas finds that very rude, but the entire family seems to be that way.

"I pulled out the ground beef because we tied between burgers and taco's." Dean calls out.

"Who wants what, ya Idjit?"

"Uh," Dean looks at Cas, "You wanna stay for dinner?"

"I would have to call Zachariah." He fidgets, not sure if he wants to stay much longer.

"Hold on." Dean gets up and walks into the back of the house.

Dean walks back into the living room after a minute, "Phone's in the kitchen. Use the black one." Dean directs him to the kitchen.

Cas walks into the kitchen to find four phones set up. One is white and mounted on the wall, the next is white with a counter jack, another is beige rotary phone, and the last is black on a counter jack. He wonders vaguely why they need four phones. He picks up the one he's supposed to use and dials Gabriel's cell phone number.

"Hello?" Gabe picks up after the third ring.

"Hello, Gabriel."

"Cassie! What's up?"

"Dean has invited me to stay for dinner."

"I see. And you want me to break the news to dad?"

"I would appreciate it."

"Alright, but you owe me Cassie."

"Thank you, Gabriel." He hangs up the phone before Gabriel can make a joke of some sort.

By the time he gets back, Dean is finished with the poster and Cas nods his approval. He fibs about getting permission from Zachariah. Dean asks him what he wants and Cas picks one at random. It seems to be the right choice, cause Sam huffs out a laugh.

"Alright. Well, I should probably get started on that. You stay here and… I don't know… geek with Sam." He rolls off the couch and heads into the kitchen. Cas is sitting there with his hands in his lap when the door slams open and two women and a boy walk in. The two teenagers jump onto the couch while the older woman heads into the kitchen. They seems to know who he is, and they ask him questions. Normal things like; what classes he has, and what his hobbies are.

Three more teenagers walk in and Cas thinks he recognizes them from school The red headed girl sits on the arm of the recliner he's sitting on.

"Hi! You're Cas, right?" She sticks out her hand and Cas shakes it.

"Yes, and you are?"

"Charlie Bradbury! Nice to meet you." They talk for a bit before something collides with the back of her head and explodes.

She whips around and yells, with righteous fury, "Damnit Winchester!"

"Oops! I missed!" He sang and Cas knew he was lying.

He has to admit, Dean wearing an apron isn't something he thought he'd find attractive, but he look rather enticing with it tied around his waist and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Winchester's don't miss." She growled.

He winks at her, "That's right sweetheart!" He ducks back into the kitchen and Cas tries to not blush.

After the food is cooked and everyone has finished eating, Charlie drags him away from helping Dean. They stop in a corner of the living room where no one will hear them.

"I need to know right now, Castiel. Are you going to hurt Dean?"

"I don't understand, why would I hurt Dean?"

"He fell apart after you left. Horrible things happened, Cas. It's not my place to say what, but those things shouldn't happen to anyone, let alone a preteen." She looks honestly horrified that something like that could happen to Dean. Now he's even more curious as to what happened.

"I… No. I will not leave again if I can help it."

The conversation is cut off when Dean calls him over to the front door to leave. Cas nods to Charlie, grabs his bag, and leaves the Singer residence. They get in the Impala are half way to Zachariah's house when Cas speaks up.

"I really had fun today." He confesses.

"Yeah? I really liked having you over." Cas doesn't know if he should read into that, so he doesn't.

"Your family is… very big."

Dean laughs and Cas' insides clench, "Yeah, we're loud, too."

"And very rude. You should not throw produce at your friends."

"Fine. No produce for you." Dean looks affronted and Cas panics before realizing Dean called him a friend. In a roundabout sort of way. He looks down and smiles. This is the best day he's had in years.


	14. The Accident

It has been two weeks since dinner at the Singer house and Dean and Cas have grown closer and closer. Dean's gotten to know Cas very well. They still haven't talked about what's happened while Cas was away and Dean thinks he wants to change that soon He just doesn't know how to initiate that conversation. He also wants to avoid the emotional part that comes with the conversation. Sometimes he wishes he wasn't raised a Winchester; Winchesters avoid emotion like the plague.

It's a relatively bright, quiet Tuesday after school, and their large group is hanging out at the park. Castiel, Gabriel, and Anna have joined them as well. Once he stopped jerking the Winchesters around, they found out Gabriel was actually a pretty cool guy. He makes funny jokes and he enjoys baking, oddly enough, so he's been giving Garth lesson-to no avail, unfortunately. Anna is very quiet when she's calm-she yelled at Gabriel once in front of them and they all decided to appease her whenever possible.

The only thing that could make this day better for Dean would be for Sam and Jess to stop fighting. They're trying to keep it quiet and far away from the group, but everyone can hear it. They're trying not to, but Jess gets loud when she's mad. Dean doesn't know what they're fighting about, and he's pretty sure they don't either, but it's getting harder and harder to ignore them when they keep getting louder.

Eventually they all hear, "God! I can't take this Sam! You're impossible to talk to!" They all fall silent, as if afraid to draw their wrath.

"_I'm_ impossible?" Sam shouts back, affronted. "You're the one who won't listen to anyone else when you're mad!"

"I'm not impossible Sam!"

"Yes you are! When you calm down you're always willing to listen, but when you're mad it's like talking to a brick wall!"

"FINE! You want to wait until I'm calm?! Call me next week when I get back from Chicago with my parents!" Jess storms over to the table, and everyone pretends they weren't listening. They don't look at her when she grabs her bag or comment when she leaves without Ruby, whom she was supposed to drive home. Everyone looks away from Sam as he throws himself onto the only available seat. No one watches Jess go.

Dean heard it before he sees anything. Asia's Heat of the Moment is blaring, probably from someone's car. Dean looks up to see an older car soaring down the road. He doesn't even think about it until it tries to hang to corner. Everything speeds up and before Dean can move or say anything Jess in next to her car and he can't make the turn tight enough going that fast. There's a horrible sound that rings out; a mix between a crunch and a bang. After the impact the convertible flips and lands with another horrible crunch. Dean can't see Jess, but he can see what's left of Jess' once pale blue Beetle stained red. Sam screams next to him and it's raw and hurting. He sees Sam move to run to her and this is when things slow down. He notices that Jess' crumpled up Beetle is leaking fuel something fierce, and the engine is catching fire. It will explode before they can get to her, if she's even still alive. He can't risk Sam, no matter how much he wants to help Jess.

His ears are ringing already as he tackles Sam to the floor. Sam tries to get Dean off of him, but Dean knows Sam more the he knows himself. He's in front of Sam when he tries to move forward again. Sam is trying desperately to get past Dean, but Dean has dug himself into place and he'll be damned if Sam gets past him. Not this time.

Dean can hear everything like it's happening right next to him. Gabriel and Adam are both calling 911 and talking to the operators. The girls are all crying out but in shock. The boys are all silent and frozen as well. The damn convertible is still playing Asia and Dean thinks he'll never hear it the same again, but knows it'll be a trigger for Sam. Sam is screaming Jess' name like a mantra and he can feel his shirt tearing from Sam's attempts to get free. Dean wouldn't be surprised if he's bleeding as well.

Things speed up again when the convertible explodes. Now, instead of holding Sam back he's holding Sam up. He's sobbing now, and Dean doesn't blame him. He holds Sam up and tries to get his baby brother to look away; to look at anything except the fiery mess behind Dean. Sam's cries are broken as he falls closer to the floor and Dean would give anything to go back in time and save Jess. Sam clings to Dean as he breaks down farther.

The paramedics are the first on the scene, in record time and Dean hates them. They choose to be speedy when the victims are already gone, but when his father was dying they took their sweet time. The police show up next, and then the fire engine. By then Sam's given up all pretense of ever being okay. He's lying on the floor now, but his crying has remained silent. Dean hasn't left his side, he sits there with his hand on Sam's shoulder, letting him know he's there. Adam has joined them on the floor but he's not holding Sam at all. The others are sitting or standing behind them. The police come over to talk to them as the Mortician arrives. They talk to Sam and Adam first, and they give their story. Bobby comes down, Dean didn't know someone had even called him, but he's extremely grateful when he takes Sam and Adam home after they're questioned. By the time they get to Dean, everyone but the Milton kids have gone home.

Dean recounts it as best he can, which is pretty well. He keeps calm through it all. He knows Missouri is going to scold him for bottling it up again. It's how he deals with life when things like this happen. After the police are finished with him, he walks over to the Milton children.

"Where's you dad?" Dean asks.

"Didn't call him." Anna pipes up, her voice small and shaken.

"You guys need a lift?" Dean points to his Baby.

The three agree and they make their way to the Impala. Cas rides shotgun while Gabe and Anna ride in the back. Everyone is silent and Dean really doesn't feel like playing music. He honestly feels like beating the shit out of one of the Junkers in Bobby's Yard. The streets are dark now, with the street lamps on. The roads are sparsely occupied. Dean thinks it's fitting.

They're about halfway there when Cas speaks, "How can you be so calm?" It very low, and if Dean had been playing anything he would not have heard it.

"I'm not."

"You're are; you're not shaking, you didn't shed a tear, you didn't even flinch when it happened." Cas' voice is accusing.

"I handle things differently. Everyone does, Cas. You'll deal with this differently than Anna or Gabe will." Dean adjusts his grip on the wheel.

"This isn't 'handling things differently' Dean. This is not being affected. Do you even _care_ th-" Dean slams on the brakes, _**hard**_. He doesn't throw his arm out to protect his passenger; he doesn't ask if everyone is okay.

He puts Baby in Park and turns to stare at Castiel. "Don't you ever, **EVER** imply that _I_ do **not** care about _my_ family. Don't you ever assume _you_ know how _I_ feel. I said I handle things differently. You want to know how I deal with things? I bottle them up. I take it out on Junkers at Bobby's. I talk to my _therapist_. I handle things _my_ way. Jess was my _sister_. She was my _family_! She always **will be**! You ever tell me how I feel again; it'll be the last thing you tell me."

Dean doesn't give Cas a chance to respond. He puts Baby back into gear and drives down the road. He's the picture of calm; face passive, hands still, legs not fidgeting. He drives like he always does. The rest of the drive home is done in silence, but this once is tense whereas the previous one was somber. Cas is leaning on the door, as if trying to get as far away from Dean as possible. Dean feels like shit for yelling at Cas. He wants Cas to understand, but he knows he has to tell Cas everything for that to happen. They get to the Milton house and Dean wonders what they're going to tell Zachariah. Gabe and Anna rush out of the car, and Cas isn't far behind. Dean opens his door and stands beside the car, his arm resting on top of Baby.

"Cas." His voice is small and he hates it so much.

Cas freezes but doesn't turn around.

Dean bites his lip before looking down, "I shouldn't have yelled at you, I'm sorry." He fiddles with the bracelet Charlie gave him.

There's silence and for a minute Dean thinks Cas isn't going to respond. But Cas can be more silent than Death when he wants to be, so Dean is surprised when he sees Cas walk up to him.

"I should not have insinuated you do not care. I know how important family is to you."

Dean nods, not trusting his voice to carry over his thanks.

"Why didn't-If you could move, when all of us were frozen still, why didn't you try to…I don't know, _do something_?" Cas' voice is small, defeated. Dean knows he'll blame himself for not being able to help.

"She was already gone, Cas. She was gone the minute the car hit her. I couldn't lose Sam on a fool's errand."

"You don't know she was dead-"

"I do, Cas. I've seen these things. There was way too much blood. She would have bled out before the paramedics wouldn't have been able to save her."

"_How_ can you know that?" Dean knows he's clinging onto hope.

"Because my dad bled less than that and they couldn't save him." Cas remains silent. Dean isn't sure if he's trying to process the information or if he's disgusted with Dean.

"We can talk about this later, Cas. Just go inside, try to sleep." Dean pulls Cas into a brief hug before lightly nudging him in the direction of the door. Cas goes inside and Dean knows it'll be useless trying to sleep, but he's glad Cas will try.


	15. The Reason Why

The next day, no one goes to school. Not the Winchesters. Not the Miltons. Not the Harvelles. No one in their group goes to school. None of them really get out of bed. None of them go to school for the rest of the week. Monday is rough, for everyone. No one will look at them. Everyone is offering Sam condolences, but that just makes it worse. Dean knows all Sam wants is normalcy and that's exactly what Dean gives him. But it really doesn't help.

Dean finds Cas after school that Monday and invites him over to talk. Cas accepts without hesitation, which Dean takes as a good sign. The whole day is more depressing than normal and Dean is glad when it's finally over. They walk out of theater together, grab their books from their lockers and driver in silence to Singer Salvage Yard. Dean knows that Bobby is going to be in the garage all day today and Crowley left Saturday for a business meeting. They get to the house and Dean leads Cas up the stairs to his room. It's all his own, but there are few decorations lying around. Dean flops down on his bed and lays there face down, his lower body half off the bed.

He toes off his shoes and he really doesn't care where they land. Cas follows his lead and toes his own shoes off. After shuffling awkwardly for a few minutes, Cas sits down on the edge of Dean's bed. Dean shuffles over a bit to give Cas more room. Cas sits cross legged on the end of Dean's bed.

They sit in silence for a bit longer before Dean rolls onto his side, facing Cas. "Where did you go? When you just… never showed up again?"

Cas shuffles. "We had a house fire." Dean stiffens. "My parents died. My father got me out, but my mother got stuck inside. He went in to save her, but…he never came back out. The paramedics found me on the curb, alone." He pauses. "The police took me to the station. They called my aunt and she came and got me. I lived with her for a few days before she passed. She had undiagnosed cancer, apparently. So I went to another family member, they passed as well. After a while, no one in my family wanted to take me anymore. That's when Zachariah showed up; he said he was my father's friend and that he'd take me in. For a while, we lived in Springfield, Ohio for a long time. I just tried fitting in for a long time. It's really hard when you've only ever had one friend."

"You had Sam."

"That wasn't the same. He wasn't there because he wanted to see me. He wanted to be with his older brother."

"That's horse shit, Cas. Sam adored you."

Cas fidgets again.

"I don't think-"

"Cas, Sam always had the option of staying with his other friends."

Cas looks down at his lap. "I don't have many friends, Dean."

Dean is honestly confused, "Cas, my entire family loves you. Everyone who meets you, likes you."

"If you say so, Dean." Cas picks at her fingers.

"What about you? What happened after I left?"

And Dean tells his story.


	16. Extra: Cas 3

"What about you? What happened after I left?"

Cas can see Dean tense up. He wonders how bad things could have been for Dean. "I was at school when it happened." Dean rolls onto his back and to stare at his ceiling. "The cops came in and pulled Sammy and I out of class. Our house burned down. Mom was inside. She didn't make it. Practically nothing made it." He rolls over and reaches into the night stand drawer.

He pulls out a picture and shows it to Cas. The picture is of a young, happy couple with two children. Cas recognizes Dean, he's the clearest. He kind of recognizes Sam and Mary, but the man is foreign to him. He shows it to Dean, "Who's he?" Dean looks rather sad, "That's my dad, John. He was gone a lot." Cas stares at it for a while longer before asking, "Where's Adam?"

"Adam's my half-brother. We didn't know about him yet." Cas wasn't expecting that.

Cas waits for him to continue silently. "After the fire, my Dad fell into alcoholism. We went to live with Bobby here. It was nice for a while, until Kate - Adam's mom - called us to the police station. She told us that my dad had an affair on my mom and the result was Adam. She, uh…she shot herself." Dean swallows, and Cas feels his stomach drop. "I stopped Sammy from seeing it, but I wasn't so lucky. Bobby took Adam in because he didn't have anyone else. He's a Winchester now, legally." Dean falls back against his pillows. "That was when I started seeing Missouri Mosley. She's my therapist." Dean seems ashamed at the word, like there's something wrong with him.

"I couldn't sleep at first, cause all I saw was her. Her… all over the walls. I was a bit insomniac for a bit. I got better as time passed, but…life seems to want to fuck with me. Junior year, my Dad and I were going to the bank when this truck driver fell asleep at the wheel. We got into a crash, and I broke my arm. We were okay; we got out of the car. He was calling 911 when this car swerves to avoid crashing. It was going to hit me, but my Dad pushed me out of the way. The car pinned him to a tree. He…uh…he bled to death. It took the paramedics nearly twenty minutes to get to us. He was dead by then. He died in my arms. That gave Missouri more material to work with."

"And then, of course, I caught Bobby and Crowley getting it on in our kitchen. That was horrifying. Spent three whole sessions on that alone." Cas realizes he's only half joking.

There's a long silence where neither look at each other, "You left the day my mom died."

Cas is stunned into silence. He doesn't know what to say, so he leans down and hugs Dean instead.

Dean stiffens, and Cas thinks he's done the wrong thing. He flushes, embarrassed at his own social ineptitude and goes to move away. He doesn't expect Dean to hug him back, but he does. Dean lays there with his face buried in Cas' neck and his arms wrapped around Cas' waist. When Dean doesn't let go, Cas' back starts to hurt from the way he's contorted, so he shifts and lays down next to Dean.

Cas doesn't know how long they stay like that, curled around each other, but after a while Dean dozes off. He still clings to Cas as if he's afraid he'll leave again. Soon after, Cas hears Adam get home with Garth, and they both head into Adam's room. Cas can hear them talking about homework, and Adam puts on his music. It's a bit different from Dean's taste, but all Winchesters like the same basis of music. He listens to Adam's music while he lays there, and eventually falls asleep wrapped up in Dean's arms.


	17. Extra: Adam 1

Adam gets out of Garth's run down pickup truck in front of the Singer household. He tosses Growley his bone and dashes inside. Garth follows quickly, as Growley likes neither of them, really. They pass the kitchen, and go upstairs to Adam's room. They have homework together, and so they sit down and do it. Adam flicks on his radio to find Ramble On by Zeppelin. After an hour, Adam and Garth finish their homework. Adam goes to check on Dean, because he should probably start working on dinner.

He walks into Dean's room, "Hey De-" He cuts himself off and freezes.

He slowly backs out of his older brothers' room and back into his own. Garth sees Adam sneaking and tilts his head in silent question. Adam holds up his finger as he grabs his phone off the charger. He sneaks back into Dean's room with the camera option open and tiptoes up to the bed. He snaps as many picture he can before Dean stirs. He rushes out of his brothers' room like a giddy school girl. He runs back to his own, careful to close the door as quietly as possible. He texts everyone that's it's a 'fend for yourself' night as Dean is indisposed with a string of pictures attached.

He hears Garth's phone go off a couple seconds after he hits send and Garth trembles with trying to keep his peals of laughter in. Adam knows he can't hold for long so he smothers Garth with a pillow. After a minute his phone buzzes alive with numerous texts wondering if they were real. He sends off a mass text that yes, they are real and that is the reason Dean is indisposed.

After Garth calms down, they silently make their way down stairs to find something to eat. Garth and Adam laugh about how adorable they are together. Adam realizes that he sent of a mass text to his family. His family setting includes Cas' phone. And Deans.


	18. The Call

A while has passed since Dean and Cas opened up to each other and their school is on Fall Break. Dean's glad for the two-week break from school work and annoying people. Their entire group was exhausted after everything that's happened. Sam appears to be doing better on the outside, but Dean sees how far away his eyes are when he thinks no one is looking. He sees that Sam is spending more and more time away from their group. He sees him avoid _his_ therapist like Dean had in the beginning. Dean knows that's bed, because talking to Missouri had really helped him; _is_ really helping him.

Most of all, Dean sees Sam spending more and more time with Ruby, who had been Jess' best friend. At first he thinks Sam just wants to be close to Jess again, but after a while he thinks they're trying to comfort each other as the closest people to Jess.

Whenever Dean tries to confront Sam, he avoids the entire subject, no matter what it is. Some days are better than others. Some days Sam will just close up on Dean and not say anything and try to leave. Other days Sam will explode and yell and say things he knows will hurt Dean. But Dean doesn't give up on his baby brother; he keeps up pretenses and still tries to talk to Sam, but he gives him his space when he asks.

Like now, Sam is hanging out at a friend's house; a new friend, one that Dean's never heard of until today. He doesn't ask questions- God knows he wants to- and instead invites all of his friends over for a small sleep over the last Friday of the quarter. When Dean says small, he means his whole family. Everyone agrees, but most have to go gather their things and do their chores. Cas brought his things with him to school, unlike Anna and Gabriel who hadn't thought ahead.

So Cas went to the Singer residence with Dean. Initially it was only the two of them; Bobby was out fetching a disabled vehicle, Crowley was out of town on business, Adam had detention, Sam was gone with his new friend, and the others were getting their stuff. Dean and Cas are sitting there, joking about what they're going to do when the other's get there-namely getting revenge on Adam for spreading those pictures around.

They're cut short when one of Bobby's phones ring in the kitchen. Dean gets up and walks into the kitchen to get it. Dean gets in the kitchen and finds it's the black phone ringing-the house phone.

'It has to be a personal call, then.' He thinks as he answers it.

"Singer residence, Dean speaking."

"Dean? It's Jody Mills, the sheriff. Could you get Bobby for me?" Dean smiles, thinking Jody should give up on Bobby.

"He's out getting someone's car. Can I take a message?" He grabs the magnetic note pad stuck to the fridge and a pen.

"It's Sam. He's in the hospital." Dean feels like throwing up.

"What?" He can barely get it out. His mind races a thousand miles an hour trying to figure out what's happened to his baby brother.

"I… don't know if I should tell you. But I suppose Bobby can't get around telling you." Dean clings to the counter.

"Apparently Sam _ditched school_, and…Sam has OD'd, Dean. He's alive, and he's detoxing in the hospital…"

It takes a few minute for Dean to understand that. "Which room?"

"Dean, I think you sh-"

"Which room, Jody?" He doesn't yell, but he knows she can hear the urgency in his voice.

"He's in Sioux Falls County Hospital in room 312, Dean. You should wait for Bobby."

"I can't!" His voice doesn't rise, but she doesn't argue.

"Be safe Dean." Dean hangs up without a good bye.

Dean feels numb as he walks back to the living room. "So I was thinking we could-" Cas turns to look at him. "Dean? Dean what's wrong?"

"Sam, he…" and he can't bring himself to say it. His Sam wouldn't do this. Not his Sammy.

"I-I need to…go to the Hospital." He stumbles over to his jacket for Baby's keys, but he can't seem to get them.

Cas is there and he's gripping Dean's hands hard, "Dean, what happened?" Cas looks scared, and Dean can only imagine how shaken _he_ must look.

"Sam." He tries to talk but his voice breaks and before he knows it he's sobbing and he can't stop.

Cas tries to make him sit down, but he's having none of that. He has to get to Sam. He barges past Cas towards the door and jerks it open. He tries to head towards Baby, but Cas stops him.

"Dean, you can't drive like this, you'll kill us both _and_ wreck Baby!" Dean doesn't know when Cas started calling her that, but he finds he rather likes it.

"And leave Sam all alone in the Hospital? Fuck that Cas!" He's yelling now, and Cas shrinks back. Dean doesn't care as he stalks down the porch towards Baby again.

Cas follows him and he really doesn't know why. He circles Baby to the driver's side, but he still can't get his _fucking_ keys. He's wrestling with his damn jacket when Gabe and Anna stroll up.

"Sorry we're late, but Sweetie blew a head gasket so Dad had to drive us here." Dean snaps.

"NO ONE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT YOUR CAR, GABE!" Dean is yelling as loud as he can and all three people around him freeze.

He still can't get his keys, and in a fit of rage, he punches the drivers' side window, shattering the glass. He breaks and falls to his knees, cradling his bleeding hand. Instantly Cas and Gabe are on either side of him.

"What the hell is going on Cas?"

"I don't know! All I got was 'Sam' and 'the Hospital'!" Cas pulls off his black jacket and uses it to stop Dean's hand from bleeding.

Dean pulls himself together enough to tell them that Sam's in the hospital. Dean finally, _finally_, gets his keys from his damn jacket. With shaking hands, he hands Cas the keys to Baby. Cas looks flabbergasted.

"What do you want me to do with these?" Cas asks his worried.

"Drive. You _have_ a license!" Dean stands up, his hand held close, and walks-shakily-to the other side of the car. Cas flounders like a fish for a few seconds as Dean gets in the passenger side. Cas thinks about handing the keys to Gabe, because he has so little experience in stick shift.

"Dean, I can't drive stick that well!" Cas says through the broken window. "Gabe coul-"

"Get in and drive, Cas!" Dean isn't yelling, but Cas gets in anyway and starts Baby. Gabe and Anna pile in the back before Cas can drive off.

Dean gives Cas directions to Sioux Falls Hospital from memory- God knows he's been there enough. Cas does exceptionally well driving Baby, but he's going far too slow for Dean's liking. When they get to the hospital, Dean gets out of the car without locking up or anything. He hears Cas ask Anna to lock up the car-you don't need the keys for that, thankfully- as he and Gabe chase after Dean into the hospital. They rush up to the front desk and the nurse thinks they're there for Dean.

He snaps at her, "I'm here for my brother! Give me the damn badge so I can go in!"

"You can't go in while you're bleeding, it's unsanitary!"

Dean growls, but lets the nurses take care of his hand. It doesn't need stitches, but it does need to be disinfected and wrapped, which takes thirty minutes. Dean yanks his hand away from the nurse the second it's done and demands to see his brother. The nurses hand him his badge but bar Sam and Gabe from entering until Sam's legal guardian can give them permission and Dean doesn't count. Dean actually stops when he hears Cas can't come with him.

"Go, we'll wait here for Bobby." Dean remembers he has to call him.

Dean hesitates for a moment before hugging Cas tight. "Thank you, Cas." He doesn't just mean for driving him here, but he'll explain that later. As he pulls away, he kisses Cas on the cheek. He quickly turns around and darts off towards Sam's room. He gets inside and sighs when he sees Sam asleep. He settles on the floor and fires off a text to Adam that Sam's in the hospital and to spread the word.


	19. The Brotherly Talk

When Dean wakes up, it is three o'clock in the morning and his back is killing him, but that's not what woke him up. Sam is groaning in pain. Dean calls for a nurse who comes rushing to his brothers' side. She checks his vitals, stating that everything is fine. Sam opens his eyes then, and Dean is by his side in seconds.

"Dean? Wh-" His voice cracks. The nurse helps him up and gives him a small glass of water. Sam downs it like a man stranded in the desert and asks for another. He downs that one as well before he can speak again.

"Where am I?" He looks disoriented.

"You're in Sioux Falls County Hospital." Dean's voice is soft and comforting.

"What happened?" Sam looks honestly confused.

"You, uh. What do you remember?"

"Uh, ditching the second half of school? Ruby invited me to hang out at her place, so I went. We were sitting there talking and then everything goes fuzzy." Sam looks around confused.

"If I'm in the hospital where is everyone?"

Dean laughs, "It's three a.m. you dork. I stayed the night." Sam looks guilty.

"Why didn't you just go home? Sleep in a bed like a normal person."

The nurse leaves the two brothers alone, "and leave you here alone? No way in hell."

There's a bit of silence before Dean has to ask, "Sammy. Did you try to kill yourself?"

He looks appalled. "What?!"

"You overdosed Sam. That's why you're here. You know what that means?" At Sam's blank stare, Dean yells without raising his voice. "It means either you _tried_ to overdose, or someone tried to _Date Rape_ you." Dean stares at Sam gaping like a fish.

"I would _never_ try to kill myself, Dean. NEVER. How could you even _think_ that?"

"I don't know what to think Sam. You've been pushing us away. Every time I try to talk to you, you freak out and either shut down or blow up." Dean hangs his head in shame.

"Dean, I would never leave you guys willingly." Sam lies back down and glares at the ceiling.

"I figured you guys were mad at me for getting Jess killed."

"Whoa, whoa-**What**?" Dean whips around and glares at Sam.

Sam jerks back and flounders for an answer.

"How could you ever think you got Jess killed?" Sam goes to answer but Dean just cuts him off, "You had nothing to do with Jess' death, Sam. You didn't kill her; you couldn't have stopped it if you wanted to."

"If I could hav-"

"No, Sam. If you went to her, you'd be dead too. What good would that do?!" Sam sighs, Dean can see the tears welling up in his little brother's eyes.

"Sam, I know you miss her-we all do- but Jess dying is not your fault." He sits beside his little brother and pulls him close. Sam breaks at the contact, letting loose the tears he'd been holding back since Jess' funeral.

"You don't get it Dean!" He sobs.

"I do, Sammy, I do. Believe me." Dean thinks of his parents and how much it hurts to not see them every day. He thinks of how much it had hurt to not see Cas every day.

"No, Dean. You don't. I wanted to end it with Jess!"

Dean freezes for a minute. "Like…"

"I wanted to break up with her, Dean. When she walked away at the park I wished there was an easy way to break up with her! Then-"

"That does not mean you killed her Sam. That was a horrible accident." Dean pulls his brother closer.

"But-"

"Is Dad's death my fault?"

"Of course not Dean!"

"Then Jess' isn't yours." But Dean knows how this works. There's always going to be a small part of Sam that blames himself for Jess' death

"Dean. I- I should probably talk to that therapist, huh?"

"Probably." Dean lets go of Sam and tucks him in-with complaint from the sasquatch-before heading back to his spot on the floor.

They both fall asleep with Dean humming Hey Jude.


	20. The Confrontation

The next time he wakes up, it's to Sheriff Mills gently nudging him awake. She says she has to talk to Sam privately, so he gets up and walks out of the room. He groans because his ass is asleep and if he thought his back was killing him before, it's performing triple homicide now. He asks the nearest nurse if they could get him something to drink. They comply, handing him a cup of indeterminable liquid which he downs immediately.

That's when he sees Ruby chatting up a male nurse. He walks over and asks politely to talk to Ruby. The guy reluctantly agrees and Dean walks over to the same corner he dragged Ruby off to the first time. When he's sure no one can hear him, he speaks to Ruby in a low voice. It's calm and he knows how much scarier that is.

"I know what you did, you _black eyed bitch_. I swear to everything in creation, you _whore_, that if you come _near_ Sammy again, I will fucking _hurt_ you." He leans in a bit closer, "No one will defend a back stabbing cunt. None of _my_ friends are going to miss you. If you hurt him again, I will fucking _gut_ you." Her expression doesn't change. She doesn't even break a sweat. Dean turns around and walks back to Sam's room.

Sheriff Mills walks out as Dean approaches. She smiles grimly, nods and walks away towards Ruby. There isn't a spectacle as they talk, or when Jody leads Ruby out of the hospital. Dean walks back into Sam's room to find him unconscious again. Dean idly wonders how his baby brother can sleep so much, but he supposed that he _is_ recovering.

Dean settles down and thinks about Cas. He knows he made a huge mistake kissing his cheek, but he can't really regret it. He'll judge how Cas reacts to him and act off of that. With that settled, he falls asleep against the wall again wishing he had a blanket.


	21. The Property of Moondor

The next time Dean wakes up, he's lying down, but he's not cold. He doesn't want to wake up yet, so he snuggles into his pillow, which is probably someone's lap. He hears quiet talking in the hallway, as well as people talking in Sam's _luxurious_ half-room. He recognizes Adam and Gabriel's voices near Sam's bed - or where he thinks Sam's bed is – and they're talking about something or other, Dean doesn't really care. He's warm and comfortable, and someone is petting his hair. He's finding it hard to stay awake, honestly.

"I know you're awake Dean." Sam calls from the bed.

"F'k you." Dean mumbles, his voice thick with sleep.

The hand on his head stops petting him and he groans. He flings his arm out and pats around until he finds the hand and places it back on his head before snuggling back into his blanket.

"I think he really doesn't want to get up." Cas' voice comes from above him, and he starts petting Dean again.

'Crap' Dean thinks, 'Cas is petting me. I'm lying on Cas' lap.'

"Dean! We've got lunch!" Gabe calls out.

Dean groans but doesn't move.

"We got you a great burger!" Adam chips in.

He groans again and curls up.

"We got you pie." Sam pipes up.

Dean groans but sits up and blearily looks around the room. He rubs his hands against his eye lids and tries to focus on something.

"Pie." He mumbles again.

They all laugh at him as he waits for his pie. Dean thinks he must look ridiculous wrapped up in a fluffy green blanket next to Cas. Sam hands him a plate with cake on it and Dean stares at for a whole minute.

"Pie." He mumbles again.

"Same thing." Sam smiles.

'Little fucker.' Dean thinks. He wraps himself up in the blanket again and plops his head back into Castiel's lap.

"Dean! Wake up, Dean." Adam nudges him with his foot, which just makes Dean scoot closer to Cas.

"Mm. No. Warm." He knows he sounds like a petulant child, but he can't bring himself to care.

For the past twenty four hours he has been sitting or lying on the cold linoleum floor and now he's warm and comfortable with Cas. He's not moving. Nothing in Heaven above or Hell below will remove him from Castiel's lap.

"You can't sleep forever Dean."

"Watch me." He cocoons himself in the warm blanket and it smells like _Cas_.

He hears someone else walk in and Sam informs them that Dean won't get up and eat.

"Boy, get up and eat." Bobby commands, and Dean bolts up.

He sits there staring at nothing, wrapped up in the fluffy Cas blanket, wanting nothing more than to curl up with Cas and fall asleep. He sits there until Gabe places a burger down in front of Dean. It's in a Tupperware with the lid removed. Dean's slightly thankful for that, unsure if he'd be able get it open with his throbbing hand.

"Wassis?" Dean asks, more interested in his daydream of cuddling with Cas.

"I made you lunch. It's a bacon cheeseburger." Gabe smiles proudly.

"Oh." Dean pokes it first, trying to see if it will get up and walk away like Garth's cooking.

After it's determined inanimate, he picks it up and takes a small bite out of it. It's freaking delicious, honestly. Dean wonders how Gabe got so good. He sits there and takes his time tasting it. After he gets it down he looks at his brothers very seriously.

"If one of you don't marry him I committing fratricide." And he proceeds to inhale the rest of the burger.

He hears Cas laugh beside him and he asks, with his mouth full, "What?"

Cas laughs harder, turning red and shakes his head.

"I think he's amazed that you know what the word fratricide means." Gabe teases.

"Hey! I'm smart." Dean glares at Gabe.

"Says the guy speaking with his mouth full surrounded by a large _fluffy_ blanket!" Everyone laughs at Dean so he just returns to his meal.

After a few minutes, Bobby speaks up, "The doctor said Sam can go home tomorrow morning."

"Good, that means Adam can stay here tonight!" Dean finishes off his burger and stretches.

"Hey!" Adam protests.

"Hey yourself! I have to get home and fix Baby's window!" Dean pops his shoulders and neck.

"What happened to Baby?" Sam asks worried.

Dean freezes, "I…might…have…punched out the driver side window." He holds up his bandaged hand.

"Why would you do that?" Sam asks, bewildered.

"He was freaking out that you were in the hospital and he couldn't get the keys out of his jacket pocket." Cas supplied.

"You hit Baby because you were worried about _me_?" Dean can hear how touched Sam is.

"Yes I did, _**Samantha**_." He stands up with the fluffy green blanket.

"Whoever this belongs to; my condolences, I have claimed it in the name of Moondor." He wraps it around himself like a cape, hood and all. It hides his blush and he can smell Cas all around him.

"Very funny, Dean." Cas reaches out for his blanket, but Dean backs away.

"You think I'm joking, but I'm not. It's mine now." He clings tighter.

"I want my blanket Dean." Cas tries to sound firm, but to Dean it's far too cute to be intimidating.

"Fine." But he doesn't move.

Cas takes a step forward and Dean steps around him and catches Cas in the blanket/cloak as well. "I have claimed him in the name of Moondor. He shall be the Queen's new Hand Maiden."

"Nice try, Dean. You're stuck with that title." Adam teases.

"Damn." He hangs his head to rest on Cas' shoulder and Cas grips his arms, which are wrapped around Cas' shoulders.

"Alright, boys. We're leaving now." Adam pretends to protest, but settles down in Dean's old spot.

"Dean, let go." Cas pats his so, silently telling him to let go.

"No." He squeezes Cas closer.

"We have to leave." He tries to reason.

"Fine." He pushes Cas forward and they shuffle their way out of Sam's room together. They get on the elevator and out of the hospital with minimal incident. Dean doesn't let go until they reach Bobby's car. He piles into the back with Cas before curling into a ball and falling back asleep. Before he drifts off, he hears Cas ask Bobby how he can sleep so much.


	22. The Angel with Pie

After Sam gets back from the hospital, things start resembling the 'Winchester normal' again. Sam is no longer hanging out with Ruby-who Sam didn't press charges against, much to everyone's dismay- and he's regularly seeing his therapist. He's getting closer to Gabe, though, much to Dean's displeasure. It's one of those rare days where everyone is at their own houses, doing their own things.

Sam is at the kitchen table doing extra credit work for his classes, Adam is in his room doing god knows what, Bobby is out on 'not a date' with Crowley, and Dean is currently lounging on the couch trying to find something to entertain him. He's already finished the work he had planned for his senior project. There's nothing on television and he has no more homework to do, and he wishes he has something to do. He can hear Sam in the kitchen bad talking his advanced Calculus teacher, Azazel Smith, which makes him chuckle.

Dean is interrupted out of his thought by the doorbell. He lets his head fall onto the back of the couch. "SAM!" He calls, too lazy to get up.

"GET UP, YOU'RE CLOSER!" Sam hollers back from the kitchen.

Dean groans and slides off the couch, before heading to the door. He opens it part way, covering the gap inside with his body. He's not expecting Cas and Gabe to be at the door. Gabriel doesn't wait for an invite; he just pushes the door open and barges inside.

"Yeah, Gabe, come one in Sam's in the kitchen." Dean calls out sarcastically.

"Thanks Dean-o!" Gabe's answer is happy and not at all condescending, which puts Dean on edge.

"I'm sorry about Gabriel, Dean, but I wanted to come over and I don't own my own car."

"You could have said something after school, I'd have given you a ride." Cas ducks his head before shaking it.

"There were things I had to do at home first." That's when Dean notices Cas is hiding something behind his back.

"What's that?" Cas fidgets, and counters with, "May I come in?"

Dean steps aside and closes the door after Cas. Dean notices that Cas is hiding whatever he's holding.

"Sit on the couch and close your eyes." Cas tells him.

He thinks about protesting but decides against it. He sits down on the couch, props his feet on the coffee table, and lays his head back with his eyes closed. He hears Cas moving around, and he think's Gabe comes out of the kitchen, but he's not sure since he can't see and no one is saying anything.

"Cas? What's go-"

"Keep your eyes closed." Cas reminds him.

"They are closed." Dean wants to snap, but it comes out calm. "What's going on?"

Instead of a verbal reply, something settles in his lap. His head comes up and he raises an eyebrow at Cas without opening his eyes. Whatever it is, it's circular and cold-not ice cold, but colder than room temperature-and smooth. It's kind of like- "Is this a _plate_?" He asks.

"Open your eyes." Cas sounds nervous and excited all at the same time.

Dean opens his eyes and looks at his lap. There is one of the many various plates from Bobby's kitchen. It's one of the white ones with small pink and green paintings around the edges. But that's not what has Dean's full attention. There, on the plate, is Apple pie. Not just any apple pie, but some of the best-looking apple pie Dean has seen in a long time.

"Cas?"

Cas worries his lip, looking expectantly at Dean.

"Cas, what-"

"I made it for you, since you've been having such a hard time and all." Cas plays with the hem of his shirt.

Dean stares blankly at Cas, then looks down at the pie speechless. He picks up the fork and hesitantly spears it into the pie, not wanting to mess up its beauty, but curious to know what it tastes like. He hesitantly takes a bite and it's wonderful. It honestly tastes like Mary's home baked apple pie. It tastes like a little bit of heaven.

He manages to swallow the bite before he places the pie on the table in front of him. He looks at Cas, who's staring holes into the carpet. "It's amazing Cas." He licks his lips before biting them.

Cas looks up at him and it's the same hesitant and afraid expression. His heart jumps to his throat and his stomach ties itself into knots.

'Damnit,' he thinks to himself, 'I promised I wouldn't fall for Cas.' But he knows he's been in love with Cas way before now. He's probably always been in love with Cas.

"Really?" Cas' voice is small, and all Dean can do is nod.

Cas doesn't look convinced so he picks his plate back up and continues eating the heavenly pie. He doesn't expect Sam to wander into the living room and try to snag a piece. Dean, without thinking, slides down the couch until only his upper back is resting on it and his lower half is completely lying on the coffee table. He kicks Sam in the side as he shields his pie.

"What the hell, dude?"

"Get your own."

"There's no way you're eating an entire pie." Sam throws bitch face # 16 at him.

"Watch me." He stuffs the last of his piece in his mouth before letting the pie pan rest on his lap in its place.

"Dude, just give me one piece!" Gabe walks into the living room to find out what the commotion is all about.

"No. My angel made this one, so back off."

Dean see's Cas blush, looking at him like a deer caught in head lights and decides it's worth the slip up. Sam just gives the same look their mom shot him when he said something he'd regret. Gabriel has this shit eating grin on his face, but he doesn't say anything yet, for which Dean is infinitely grateful.


	23. The First Disappearance

A week after his accidental claim on Cas, Dean finds himself waiting after school for Adam by Baby. It's not unusual for him to wait for either of his brothers seeing as he parks as close as he can to the theater, but Adam is never late on a day where Bobby has told them to come straight home. He's also never half an hour late. Dean has called Adam's cell phone twice, and texted him quite a few more than that. He's starting to get antsy. About ten minutes ago, Sam had gone into the office to put an all call out for Adam, but still nothing.

Sam and Dean decide to make a trip around the school and ask around for Adam. They go through classrooms, and hallways asking everyone they see, but to no avail. They finally get something when they reach the back of the school. They hear Adam's ring tone blaring away, Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi, and they head towards it intending to give Adam a yelling at. However, when they round the corner, there is no one. The ring tone is still blaring away, but there is no one there. Dean walks ahead, trying to see if Adam is around the corner, but after moving so far, the song ends up behind him.

"Dean." Sam calls.

Dean turns around to see Sam looking inside one of the large garbage cans. Dean shuts his phone and rushes over, looking inside. It's not what he'd thought it would be. What he sees inside is Adam's backpack. He calls Adam's phone again and the ringing comes from inside the gray and red bag. Dean hangs up again and dials Bobby's while his brother calls the police.

He's freaking out when Bobby answers, but he tells him what's going on and Bobby promises to be down at the school as soon as he can. He can hear Sam talking to the 911 dispatcher, but he doesn't really make out any words. He calls the front desk and asks for security and tells them where they are.

Bobby gets to them first, which doesn't surprise Dean one bit. The police get there next and before they know what's happening, they're being sent home after their initial statement. Technically, Adam can't be missing until forty eight hours have passed and Dean is pissed beyond words.

The Winchesters spend the next twenty four hours in a whirlwind of emotions. They run around town looking for their brother, but they come up with nothing. But they go to school the next day as per Bobby's instructions and everything sets them on edge. The entire school day is met with grit teeth and short replies. After school, Gabe and Cas go to the Singer residence with them, against all advice.

Castiel and Dean have occupied the living room, trying to go through a list of everyone Adam knows and hangs out with. Where he goes and what classes he attended.

"I've talked to all of his friends; Cassie, Andy, Ava, and Becky. I don't know where else to check, Cas. I spent all night looking all over town."

"Have you spoken to Samandriel? Perhaps he's heard something."

"Who's Samandriel?" Dean looks at Cas.

"He's…a friend of Adam's.. you don't know Samandriel?"

"No. How do you know him?" Dean faces Cas completely.

"I…ran into Adam and Samandriel…talking a while back. Adam told me he was going to tell you."

"What do you mean 'He was going to tell me.' Tell me what?"

"That they're friends. I suppose he did not want to introduce Samandriel to his family prematurely and scare him off."

"How would we scare him off?" Cas gives Dean a look that the eldest Winchester thinks he adopted from Sam.

"Okay, I see your point, but why would he keep something from us?"

"Perhaps he enjoys having something that is all his own." Cas suggested.

Dean leans back and rests against the back of the couch. "I guess."

Dean thinks about his baby brother and another pang of worry stabs through him. He doesn't really want to face the possibility that he could lose Adam, too. Now he _knows_ the Winchester name is cursed.


	24. The Talk

The next day, the police officially open an investigation, but it goes nowhere fast. They talk to a few kids at school-kids who don't even know Adam-and Dean wonders why they called them in the first place. After asking around, Sam and Dean find Samandriel sitting in his fourth period during lunch and looking absolutely miserable. Dean doesn't even hesitate when he sits down on the desk to the kids right.

He looks up, shocked. "Um, hello, may I help you?"

"I'm Dean, this is Sam. We're Adam's older brothers." The kid literally sinks in his chair, as if trying to disappear.

"Oh. It's uh…it's nice to meet you?" he squeaks.

"Look, we're not here to harass you or intimidate you-" Dean lowers his head trying not to laugh, "We just wanna talk to you about Adam."

"He wasn't here yesterday - or today for that matter- so what could I help you with?"

"Adam's gone missing, and we were wondering if you knew anything? If you knew what he was doing last?" Sam gives the freshman his best puppy dog eyes, trying to convince him to help.

"Shouldn't the police be doing this then?"

"They're idiots. What do you know?" Dean demands; intimidating Samandriel without raising his voice or alerting the teacher at the front of the room.

"The last time I talked to Adam he was complaining about how he had to go and talk to his counselor, uh…Mr. Wesson, I think."

"Ugh, I hate Alastair." Dean murmurs. The three siblings shared a counselor because of their last name and Dean knew how much of an ass Alastair Wesson could be when the mood struck him.

"His appointment was during fifth period but I didn't see him in third or fourth."

Sam and Dean share a look, "Thanks for your help."

They leave after that and head to lunch-even though they won't eat-and talk to their friends.


	25. The Sheriff's News

Dean isn't expecting things to get worse when get arrives at school the next day, but they have. The kid he and Sam talked to-Samandriel-has gone missing as well, which means the cops are back at the school in full force. Dean even thinks there are more, but Charlie tells him he's being an overbearing older brother.

The cops talk to him and the rest of their rag tag little family, but they don't really find anything that could be useful. Dean thinks every single cop in this county ought to get fired, and that they'd be just as safe. But the rest of the day is spent tense and distracted with everyone snapping at each other. Dean actually snaps at Cas once, but apologizes immediately. Cas just tells him it's fine and that he's rightly frustrated.

He still feels like crap for yelling at Cas.

He feels like crap for being unable to protect his brother.

He feels like crap in general because he can't sleep and most food doesn't appeal to him right now.

So it's understandable when he's in a crappy mood Thursday morning, choosing to forego breakfast. He's on his way out the door to wait for Sam in Baby when Bobby's voice calls out to him.

"Where do you think you're goin' boy?"

Dean takes two steps backwards and looks in through the archway to spot Sheriff Mills sitting and having a cup of coffee with his father figure. His stomach drops because Jody only ever stops by to deliver bad news in this house. He backtracks more and enters the kitchen.

"What's going on?" his gut clenches in fear when Sheriff Mills gestures for him to sit down.

He sits down and she speaks softly, "We found Adam." Dean's fear turns to stone and drags his stomach down ever farther.

"And?"

"He's in the hospital. In surgery. The doctors don't know if he's going to be alright." Dean's heart clenches, berating himself for not protecting his little brother.

"W-What happened?" Dean has to ask and Dean realizes _how_ early it is.

The sun hasn't risen and Sam's not even out of bed yet and that kid rises with the chickens. The house feels rather cold, like it always does because Bobby likes it cold for some reason.

"Mr. Wesson and Mr. Smith, two men working at your school have been abducting children from a couple states over. We think Adam overheard their talking and that's why they took him. We won't know until Adam or Samandriel wake up."

"So he's okay? The other kid?"

"Yes, he's in the hospital as well, resting and getting checked out."

"Thank you, Sheriff," Dean murmurs.

Suddenly Dean feels like he's aged ten years. Not knowing if Adam is going to live is almost worse than not knowing if Adam was dead.

"Why don't you go get Sam and when you guys are ready, we'll go to th' hospital." Bobby's voice is gentle, but Dean knows he's just as worried as he is.

Dean nods and makes his way up the stairs, his legs feeling like Jell-O. He wonders if Adam is going to be okay-prays he'll be okay. He bursts into Sam's room, knowing Sam won't even twitch. Sam, even troubled as he is, can sleep through a stampede going through his room. So Dean flops down on his brother, knowing Sam will have a hard time breathing.

"Sammy, get up," Dean calls poking his brother in the ribs, knowing he's ticklish there.

Sam just groans and burrows under the blankets more. Dean never understood how his giant of a brother could sleep on a normal sized mattress. He also never got how Sam could sleep with six blankets and a fort of pillows, and right now he's hating them cause they're keeping Sam in bed.

"Sammy, they found Adam." Sam's head pops up, hair disheveled and eyes blurry.

"Hm?"

"Get up and dressed, we're going to the hospital."

"What's wrong with Adam?!" Sam runs his fingers through his hair once and it's styled to perfection. On any other day Dean would glare and curse his baby brother for naturally perfect hair.

"He's in surgery, come on, get dressed."

"Have you told the others?"

Dean shakes his head and grabs his phone from his pocket, shooting off a text to send down the chain. By the time he's done, Sam is haphazardly throwing on a jacket that's really too small for him. They both rush down the stairs to Bobby, who's waiting by the door with his keys in his hand.


	26. The Invite

Dean and Sam sit in the waiting room of the hospital that-in Dean's opinion-is becoming far too familiar. They sit there while the doctors operate on Adam for what feels like forever, but no one said Dean was a patient person to begin with. He doesn't even think about school-neither did Sam and that's the shock of a lifetime-or about if he's going to get in trouble with the principal. At one point a nurse tells them he's out of surgery but still unconscious so they aren't allowed to see him yet.

He zones out until someone shakes his shoulder. He's more than surprised when he sees Cas and Gabe standing in the hall. Cas looks a bit disheveled and sheepish, but he's smiling a comforting smile as he sits next to Dean.

"I didn't realize I'd been sitting here for eight hours plus," Dean murmurs.

"You, uh…you weren't." Cas blushes and looks away.

Dean pulls out his phone and checks the time gawking when it glares twelve thirty at him.

"You _ditched_ school?" Dean asks, rather loudly.

Gabe shushes him from his spot next to Sam on the opposite wall. Sam's eyes go wide and he begins reprimanding Gabe for ditching school.

"That's my Angel." Dean smiles and nudges Cas' shoulder with his own.

Cas just blushes some more and fiddles with his hands in his lap. Dean can see Cas' ears burning bright red.

"I'm sorry, does that make you uncomfortable?"

"No!" Cas looks at Dean, still blushing.

Dean finds himself speechless as he stares at Cas, the younger boy's red cheeks offsetting his cerulean eyes. Dean licks his lips, wanting to lean over and-

"_And you smiled and said to me are you gonna kiss me or not?" _

Dean whips his head over to see Gabe holding his phone-which is what's playing Thompson Square-and trying desperately not to laugh. Dean, in response, rips off his shoe and throws it at the shortest member of their little hallway vigil.

"Gabe, we're in a hospital, turn that off," Sam chides him-and you'd think Sam was the older one here.

Gabe just pouts and turns it off, hurling Dean's shoe right back at him.

"You really want to start something, Gabe?!" Dean hisses, voice low.

Before Gabriel can respond, a nurse comes out of Adam's room, "He's awake, you can see him now, but remember that he's under the effect of a lot of drugs and is probably in a lot of pain."

Dean is up and in the room before anyone can respond, looking at his baby brother with worry. Adam smiles, a bit lop sided, but still a smile. Dean smiles back and steals the chair next to Adam's bed before anyone else can take it. He's kind of shocked to see Samandriel in the bed next to his brother, but he supposes that it's not that strange.

"How are you feeling?" Dean asks as everyone piles into the room.

"Like crap, but hey, free morphine, so it doesn't hurt so bad."

"What happened?" Sam asks.

Adam kind of half shrugs from his half-laying position, "It's all too much of a blur for me." The youngest Winchester looks to his friend.

"It all happened way too fast, sorry. I know he got stabbed a few times, but other than that, I've got nothing, sorry."

"No problem, I know how bad situations are."

Adam chuckles from his bed, "Yeah. 'Bad situations' is the understatement of the century, Dean."

"He's got a point." Gabe shrugs.

"I'm still mad at you." Dean glares at Gabe before turning to Adam.

"And you. Why didn't you tell us you were friends with Samandriel? I had to learn that from Cas, you know."

"I'm sorry I didn't want to introduce my pacifist only friend to my aggressive and _scary_ older brothers?"

"Don' be silly, boy. If they scare away yer friend, I'll knock 'em upside the head." Bobby pitches in.

"Thanks, Bobby!"

"Does this mean I can finally come to one of your famous crazy dinners?" Samandriel asks from his side of the room.

"That depends." Dean states.

"On what?"

"You eat meat?" Bobby smacks him.

"Hey!"

"It don' matter!" he looks at Samandriel, "You can come by the next Saturday you're out of here."

"Thank you Mr. Singer." Samandriel smiles.


End file.
